Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) Trading Down 13.1% After Earnings Miss

Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR) dropped 13.1% during trading on Thursday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock traded as low as $2.42 and last traded at $2.5550. Approximately 7,056,919 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 32% from the average daily volume of 5,342,965 shares. The stock had previously closed at $2.94.

The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.06 by ($0.22). The company had revenue of $87.31 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.33 million.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a report on Friday, September 19th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Esperion Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Esperion Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $7.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of ESPR. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 161.1% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 255,480 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $368,000 after acquiring an additional 157,647 shares in the last quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Esperion Therapeutics by 153.5% during the first quarter. Graham Capital Management L.P. now owns 487,735 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $702,000 after purchasing an additional 295,320 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Esperion Therapeutics by 1,174.2% during the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 127,424 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $125,000 after purchasing an additional 117,424 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics in the first quarter worth about $4,446,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 36.0% in the first quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 761,980 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,097,000 after buying an additional 201,704 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.39% of the company’s stock.

Esperion Therapeutics Price Performance

The business’s 50 day moving average is $2.70 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1.75. The firm has a market capitalization of $517.16 million, a PE ratio of -5.22 and a beta of 0.92.

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.