StockNews.com Downgrades Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) to Hold

StockNews.com cut shares of Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Friday.

A number of other brokerages also recently weighed in on ESPR. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on Esperion Therapeutics from $8.00 to $6.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. HC Wainwright reissued a buy rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Esperion Therapeutics from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and decreased their price target for the company from $2.90 to $2.50 in a report on Thursday, June 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $8.17.

Esperion Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ESPR opened at $1.65 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $312.61 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.67 and a beta of 1.00. Esperion Therapeutics has a one year low of $0.70 and a one year high of $3.40. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $1.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.20.

Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 12th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.15) by $0.10. The business had revenue of $73.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $51.90 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Esperion Therapeutics will post -0.04 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Esperion Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESPR. BOKF NA bought a new stake in Esperion Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at $26,000. Xponance Inc. acquired a new stake in Esperion Therapeutics in the second quarter worth about $28,000. CVI Holdings LLC bought a new position in Esperion Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at about $37,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in Esperion Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 115.9% in the 2nd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 19,050 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $44,000 after acquiring an additional 10,225 shares during the period. 47.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.