Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) Shares Gap Up - Time to Buy?

Shares of Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $3.34, but opened at $3.49. Esperion Therapeutics shares last traded at $3.54, with a volume of 1,088,653 shares.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on Esperion Therapeutics from $8.00 to $6.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Esperion Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday.

Esperion Therapeutics Trading Up 4.2 %

The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $2.29 and a 200-day moving average price of $2.20. The company has a market capitalization of $685.70 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.44 and a beta of 1.01.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Esperion Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 38.4% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Esperion Therapeutics by 71.8% during the 1st 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 period. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 94.2% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,303,596 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $9,554,000 after buying an additional 2,087,635 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 3,278.3% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 572,323 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $1,271,000 after buying an additional 555,382 shares during the period. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in shares of Esperion Therapeutics in the third quarter worth approximately $606,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.