Esperion Therapeutics Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:ESPR)

Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR) was the recipient of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 4,601 call options on the company. This is an increase of approximately 48% compared to the typical volume of 3,108 call options.

Esperion Therapeutics Stock Up 16.4%

Esperion Therapeutics stock opened at $3.69 on Wednesday. Esperion Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $0.69 and a 52-week high of $3.94. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $2.81 and its 200 day moving average is $1.95. The company has a market cap of $882.13 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.38 and a beta of 0.92.

Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.16) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by ($0.07). The business had revenue of $87.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $78.33 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Esperion Therapeutics will post -0.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ESPR shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, September 19th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Esperion Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $7.33.

Institutional Trading of Esperion Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ESPR. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Esperion Therapeutics by 3.2% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,092,449 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,045,000 after buying an additional 375,620 shares during the last quarter. Two Seas Capital LP lifted its holdings in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 43.6% in the 2nd quarter. Two Seas Capital LP now owns 9,954,975 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,800,000 after acquiring an additional 3,024,104 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 46.2% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 5,312,252 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,206,000 after purchasing an additional 1,679,294 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,583,988 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $4,513,000 after purchasing an additional 137,691 shares during the period. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in Esperion Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at about $4,446,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.39% of the company’s stock.

Esperion Therapeutics Company Profile

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.