SG Americas Securities LLC Lowers Stake in Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR)

SG Americas Securities LLC lowered its stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR – Get Rating) by 80.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,969 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 66,920 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Esperion Therapeutics were worth $99,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ESPR. Wasatch Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Esperion Therapeutics by 27.6% during the 1st quarter. Wasatch Advisors Inc. now owns 8,147,380 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $37,804,000 after buying an additional 1,761,117 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 116.8% in the 2nd 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. Two Sigma Advisers LP raised its holdings in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 7,991.8% in the 3rd 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. Balyasny Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 6,546.7% in the 3rd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management LLC now owns 795,671 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,331,000 after purchasing an additional 783,700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 19.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 4,491,530 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $20,841,000 after purchasing an additional 730,091 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 85.87% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ESPR has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of Esperion Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $12.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, February 24th. StockNews.com initiated coverage on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a report on Thursday. They issued a “hold” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Esperion Therapeutics from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $9.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Friday, February 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Esperion Therapeutics from $8.00 to $9.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 27th. Finally, Credit Suisse Group raised shares of Esperion Therapeutics from an “underperform” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their target price for the company from $6.50 to $7.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Esperion Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $11.17.

Esperion Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of Esperion Therapeutics stock opened at $1.76 on Thursday. Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $1.12 and a 1 year high of $8.87. The company has a market capitalization of $166.69 million, a P/E ratio of -0.52 and a beta of 0.12. The company’s fifty day moving average is $1.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $4.85.

Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 9th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.79) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.65) by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $24.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $21.97 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.93) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 29.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. will post -2.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Eric Warren sold 5,090 shares of Esperion Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.05, for a total value of $25,704.50. Following the sale, the insider now owns 48,572 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $245,288.60. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Sheldon L. Koenig sold 5,441 shares of Esperion Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.06, for a total value of $27,531.46. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 194,815 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $985,763.90. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Eric Warren sold 5,090 shares of Esperion Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.05, for a total transaction of $25,704.50. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 48,572 shares in the company, valued at approximately $245,288.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 22,743 shares of company stock valued at $74,258 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 3.30% 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.