Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR) saw a large decrease in short interest during the month of September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 38,090,000 shares, a decrease of 5.8% from the August 31st total of 40,440,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 5,490,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.9 days. Approximately 19.6% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESPR has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Esperion Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, September 27th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of Esperion Therapeutics from $8.00 to $6.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Bank of America cut shares of Esperion Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $2.90 to $2.50 in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, August 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $8.17.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BOKF NA bought a new position in Esperion Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Xponance Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Esperion Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. CVI Holdings LLC bought a new stake in Esperion Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at $37,000. Sivia Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Esperion Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position in Esperion Therapeutics by 115.9% during the second quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 19,050 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $44,000 after purchasing an additional 10,225 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 47.39% of the company’s stock.

Esperion Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ:ESPR opened at $1.61 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $305.03 million, a PE ratio of -1.63 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $1.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.20. Esperion Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $0.70 and a fifty-two week high of $3.40.

Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) last announced its earnings results on Monday, August 12th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.05) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $73.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $51.90 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Esperion Therapeutics will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

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.