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

Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $8.00 target price on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on ESPR. Bank of America cut Esperion Therapeutics from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, January 3rd. HC Wainwright restated a buy rating and issued a $16.00 target price 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 given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $9.33.

Esperion Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of ESPR stock opened at $2.52 on Wednesday. Esperion Therapeutics has a one year low of $0.70 and a one year high of $3.40. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $2.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $1.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $466.33 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -1.19 and a beta of 0.84.

Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.50) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.53) by $0.03. The business had revenue of $32.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.84 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.76) EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Esperion Therapeutics will post -0.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Esperion Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its stake in Esperion Therapeutics by 95.0% in the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 13,354,186 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $21,233,000 after purchasing an additional 6,505,808 shares in the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 27.6% in 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 during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 8.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,137,750 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $15,362,000 after buying an additional 396,388 shares during the period. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its position in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 39.1% during the 1st quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 4,771,360 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $7,586,000 after buying an additional 1,342,223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Armistice Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at about $5,850,000. 47.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.