Wasatch Advisors LP Purchases 6,483,070 Shares of Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR)

Wasatch Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR - Free Report) by 38.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,346,013 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 6,483,070 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP owned approximately 11.85% of Esperion Therapeutics worth $38,521,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. 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 purchasing an additional 3,688,796 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 94.2% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,303,596 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $9,554,000 after acquiring an additional 2,087,635 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Esperion Therapeutics by 3,278.3% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 572,323 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $1,271,000 after acquiring an additional 555,382 shares during the period. Inspire Investing LLC purchased a new position in Esperion Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $758,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd boosted its stake in Esperion Therapeutics by 751.6% during the second quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 364,681 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $810,000 after acquiring an additional 321,859 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.39% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on ESPR. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Esperion Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $16.00 price objective on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective 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.

Esperion Therapeutics Price Performance

Esperion Therapeutics stock traded up $0.26 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $2.80. 4,133,964 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,554,181. Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $1.27 and a 12 month high of $3.40. The business has a 50 day moving average of $2.11 and a two-hundred day moving average of $2.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $551.71 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.38 and a beta of 0.96.

Esperion Therapeutics Company Profile

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.