JPMorgan Chase & Co. Acquires 385,099 Shares of Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR)

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR - Free Report) by 18.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,454,216 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock after purchasing an additional 385,099 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 1.25% of Esperion Therapeutics worth $5,399,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,331,314 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $7,148,000 after buying an additional 171,609 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,854,314 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $6,360,000 after buying an additional 99,802 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 31.0% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 932,008 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $2,050,000 after buying an additional 220,730 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 66.8% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 602,936 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $995,000 after buying an additional 241,512 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio acquired a new position in shares of Esperion Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth about $606,000. 47.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Esperion Therapeutics Trading Up 8.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:ESPR traded up $0.08 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $1.01. 1,015,259 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,636,917. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $1.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1.98. Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12-month low of $0.82 and a 12-month high of $3.94. The stock has a market cap of $199.83 million, a P/E ratio of -1.58 and a beta of 0.86.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ESPR. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $5.00 price target on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Esperion Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $4.00 price target (down from $7.00) on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $6.42.

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.