Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) Trading Up 4.1% – Should You Buy?

Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR)’s share price shot up 4.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $3.00 and last traded at $2.9050. 2,718,471 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 50% from the average session volume of 5,395,851 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.79.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Esperion Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $7.00.

Esperion Therapeutics Trading Up 7.3%

The business has a 50-day moving average price of $2.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $1.88. The company has a market cap of $715.98 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.99 and a beta of 0.92.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Esperion Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in Esperion Therapeutics by 33.2% in the 1st quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 40,106 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in Esperion Therapeutics by 66.3% during the first quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 50,172 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 20,000 shares in the last quarter. SLT Holdings LLC increased its stake in Esperion Therapeutics by 66.7% in the first quarter. SLT Holdings LLC now owns 50,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 20,000 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 161.1% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 255,480 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $368,000 after buying an additional 157,647 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC bought a new position in shares of Esperion Therapeutics in the first quarter worth about $4,446,000. Institutional investors own 47.39% of the company’s stock.

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.