Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) Receives “Buy” Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC restated their buy rating on shares of Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) in a research report report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a $8.00 price objective on the biopharmaceutical company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on ESPR. Bank of America cut shares of Esperion Therapeutics from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 3rd. HC Wainwright decreased their price target on Esperion Therapeutics from $22.00 to $16.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $9.33.

Esperion Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ ESPR opened at $2.68 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $2.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $495.93 million, a P/E ratio of -1.26 and a beta of 0.82. Esperion Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $0.70 and a fifty-two week high of $3.34.

Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.50) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $32.25 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $26.84 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.76) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Esperion Therapeutics will post -0.61 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESPR. Principal Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Esperion Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at $49,000. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Esperion Therapeutics by 73.1% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 17,332 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $81,000 after purchasing an additional 7,317 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in Esperion Therapeutics by 101.4% during the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 224,222 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $1,041,000 after purchasing an additional 112,894 shares in the last quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Esperion Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at $163,000. Finally, Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 72.5% in the 1st quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 53,717 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $249,000 after buying an additional 22,584 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.