HC Wainwright Reiterates Buy Rating for Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR)

Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by equities research analysts at HC Wainwright in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $16.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on shares of Esperion Therapeutics from $8.00 to $6.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Esperion Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Esperion Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $8.17.

Esperion Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of ESPR opened at $2.15 on Tuesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.14. The company has a market cap of $423.64 million, a P/E ratio of -3.36 and a beta of 0.96. Esperion Therapeutics has a one year low of $1.15 and a one year high of $3.40.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Esperion Therapeutics

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 38.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 23,346,013 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $38,521,000 after purchasing an additional 6,483,070 shares in the last quarter. Bellevue Group AG raised its holdings in Esperion Therapeutics by 136.5% in the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 9,944,064 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,650,000 after buying an additional 5,739,800 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Esperion Therapeutics by 71.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,826,546 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $23,655,000 after buying an additional 3,688,796 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 4.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,331,314 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,148,000 after purchasing an additional 171,609 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 94.2% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,303,596 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,554,000 after purchasing an additional 2,087,635 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.39% of the company’s stock.

About Esperion Therapeutics

Esperion Therapeutics, Inc, a pharmaceutical company, develops and commercializes medicines for the treatment of patients with elevated low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C). Its marketed products include NEXLETOL (bempedoic acid) and NEXLIZET (bempedoic acid and ezetimibe) tablets that are oral, once-daily, non-statin medicines for the treatment of primary hyperlipidemia in adults with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia or atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease who require additional lowering of LDL-C.