Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) General Counsel Benjamin Looker Sells 6,517 Shares

Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR) General Counsel Benjamin Looker sold 6,517 shares of Esperion Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.67, for a total transaction of $23,917.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 385,905 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,416,271.35. This represents a 1.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Esperion Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ ESPR traded up $0.15 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $3.80. 4,097,221 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,496,053. Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. has a one year low of $0.69 and a one year high of $4.13. The company’s 50 day moving average is $3.16 and its 200 day moving average is $2.28. The firm has a market capitalization of $908.44 million, a P/E ratio of -7.60 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Esperion Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 12,092,449 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $32,045,000 after acquiring an additional 375,620 shares during the period. Two Seas Capital LP raised its stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 43.6% in the second quarter. Two Seas Capital LP now owns 9,954,975 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $9,800,000 after purchasing an additional 3,024,104 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP raised its stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 46.2% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 5,312,252 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,206,000 after purchasing an additional 1,679,294 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Esperion Therapeutics by 3.1% in the second 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 acquired a new stake in Esperion Therapeutics during the first quarter worth $4,446,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.39% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on ESPR. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Esperion Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $9.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered Esperion Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $16.00 price objective on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, September 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $7.20.

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.