Needham & Company LLC Trims Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) Target Price to $12.00

Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR – Get Rating) had its price target reduced by Needham & Company LLC from $16.00 to $12.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning, The Fly reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

ESPR has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Credit Suisse Group raised Esperion Therapeutics from an underperform rating to a neutral rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $6.50 to $7.00 in a research note on Tuesday, March 7th. HC Wainwright reissued a buy rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, March 6th. Morgan Stanley raised Esperion Therapeutics from an underweight rating to an equal weight rating and set a $9.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 3rd. Bank of America downgraded Esperion Therapeutics from a neutral rating to an underperform rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $8.00 to $1.50 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised Esperion Therapeutics from a hold rating to a buy rating and set a $12.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, February 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $11.17.

Esperion Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:ESPR opened at $1.55 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $5.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $6.67. Esperion Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $1.26 and a 12-month high of $8.87.

Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR – Get Rating) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 21st. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.76) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.87) by $0.11. The business had revenue of $18.18 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $20.60 million. The firm’s revenue was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.77) EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Esperion Therapeutics will post -2.2 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel Benjamin Looker sold 6,347 shares of Esperion Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.00, for a total transaction of $44,429.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 64,453 shares in the company, valued at $451,171. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Sheldon L. Koenig sold 5,441 shares of Esperion Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.06, for a total transaction of $27,531.46. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 194,815 shares in the company, valued at $985,763.90. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel Benjamin Looker sold 6,347 shares of Esperion Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $7.00, for a total value of $44,429.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 64,453 shares in the company, valued at approximately $451,171. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 18,069 shares of company stock worth $105,990. 3.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of ESPR. Braidwell LP purchased a new position in Esperion Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $21,141,000. Ikarian Capital LLC purchased a new position in Esperion Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at about $13,067,000. Wasatch Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Esperion Therapeutics by 27.6% in the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors Inc. now owns 8,147,380 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $37,804,000 after purchasing an additional 1,761,117 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its stake in Esperion Therapeutics by 116.8% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 2,706,290 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $17,212,000 after purchasing an additional 1,457,952 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Advisers LP grew its stake in Esperion Therapeutics by 7,991.8% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Advisers LP now owns 1,084,300 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,265,000 after purchasing an additional 1,070,900 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.87% of the company’s stock.

Esperion Therapeutics Company Profile

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Esperion Therapeutics, Inc is a pharmaceutical company. It engages in the development and commercialization of oral therapies for the treatment of patients with elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. The firm offers NEXLETOL (bempedoic acid) tablets, and NEXLIZET (bempedoic acid and ezetimibe) tablets.