Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) Earns Buy Rating from HC Wainwright

Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reiterated by stock analysts at HC Wainwright in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $16.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company's stock.

A number of other research firms also recently issued reports on ESPR. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Esperion Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of Esperion Therapeutics from $8.00 to $6.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Esperion Therapeutics has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $8.17.

Esperion Therapeutics Trading Up 10.2 %

NASDAQ ESPR traded up $0.22 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $2.37. 4,787,246 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,171,838. The company has a 50 day moving average of $1.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $2.14. Esperion Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $1.15 and a 12 month high of $3.40. The stock has a market capitalization of $466.98 million, a PE ratio of -3.63 and a beta of 0.96.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Esperion Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its stake in Esperion Therapeutics by 38.4% in the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 23,346,013 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $38,521,000 after purchasing an additional 6,483,070 shares during the period. Bellevue Group AG increased its stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 136.5% during the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 9,944,064 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock worth $26,650,000 after purchasing an additional 5,739,800 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Esperion Therapeutics by 71.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,826,546 shares of the biopharmaceutical company's stock valued at $23,655,000 after buying an additional 3,688,796 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised 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 valued at $9,554,000 after acquiring an additional 2,087,635 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake 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 last quarter. 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.