Esperion Therapeutics’ (ESPR) Market Outperform Rating Reiterated at JMP Securities

JMP Securities reaffirmed their market outperform rating on shares of Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $7.00 price target on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

ESPR has been the topic of several other reports. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 price target on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Esperion Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $8.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com lowered Esperion Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group assumed coverage on Esperion Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $4.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $6.00 target price on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a report on Friday, December 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Esperion Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $7.25.

Esperion Therapeutics Stock Down 5.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ ESPR opened at $2.08 on Thursday. Esperion Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $1.58 and a twelve month high of $3.94. The stock has a market cap of $409.84 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.25 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s fifty day moving average is $2.46 and its 200-day moving average is $2.18.

Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.15) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $51.63 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.44 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.37) earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Esperion Therapeutics will post -0.28 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its position in Esperion Therapeutics by 38.4% during the 3rd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 23,346,013 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $38,521,000 after purchasing an additional 6,483,070 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 4.1% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,331,314 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $7,148,000 after buying an additional 171,609 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 94.2% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,303,596 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,554,000 after buying an additional 2,087,635 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Esperion Therapeutics by 2.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,854,314 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,360,000 after buying an additional 99,802 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Esperion Therapeutics by 1.0% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,069,117 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,414,000 after buying an additional 19,588 shares during the period. 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.