Esperion Therapeutics’ (ESPR) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $8.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target indicates a potential upside of 229.22% from the company’s previous close.

Separately, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, March 25th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Esperion Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $9.33.

Esperion Therapeutics Trading Up 14.6 %

Shares of ESPR stock traded up $0.31 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $2.43. 38,472,910 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,871,284. Esperion Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $0.70 and a 12-month high of $3.40. The company has a market capitalization of $460.24 million, a PE ratio of -1.18 and a beta of 0.89. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $2.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2.06.

Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.50) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $32.25 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $26.84 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.76) EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Esperion Therapeutics will post -0.68 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ESPR. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Esperion Therapeutics by 2.7% in the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 9,129,647 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $24,467,000 after acquiring an additional 238,544 shares during the period. Armistice Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Esperion Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $9,568,000. Monaco Asset Management SAM lifted its stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 68.5% in the 3rd quarter. Monaco Asset Management SAM now owns 1,171,779 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,148,000 after purchasing an additional 476,477 shares during the period. GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its position in Esperion Therapeutics by 1.0% during the fourth quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 1,128,149 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,373,000 after buying an additional 11,494 shares during the period. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its position in Esperion Therapeutics by 120.1% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 413,704 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $405,000 after buying an additional 225,767 shares during the period. 47.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.