Shares of Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR – Get Rating) received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eight brokerages that cover the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned the company a buy rating. The 12-month average target price among brokers who updated their coverage on the stock in the past year is $10.43.

Several equity analysts have recently commented on ESPR shares. Credit Suisse Group cut shares of Esperion Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to an “underperforming” rating and reduced its target price for the company from $7.00 to $6.00 in a rating of research from Wednesday, August 3. Morgan Stanley raised its price target on Esperion Therapeutics shares from $7.00 to $9.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a Wednesday, Nov. 2 research note. Cowen lowered his price target on shares of Esperion Therapeutics to $13.00 in a Tuesday, Aug. 9 research note. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Esperion Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a Thursday, Nov. 3 research note.

Institutional investors weigh in on Esperion Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently increased or reduced their holdings in ESPR. Amalgamated Bank purchased a new stake in Esperion Therapeutics during Q1 for approximately $34,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Esperion Therapeutics during Q1 valued at approximately $49,000. Venture Visionary Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Esperion Therapeutics during Q2 for approximately $50,000. FMR LLC increased its stake in Esperion Therapeutics by 30.0% during the second quarter. FMR LLC now owns 8,669 shares of the biopharmaceutical company worth $55,000 after acquiring 2,003 additional shares in the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. acquired a new stake in Esperion Therapeutics during Q1 for a value of approximately $65,000. Institutional investors hold 94.63% of the company’s shares.

Esperion Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ:ESPR opened at $7.96 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $586.52 million, a P/E ratio of -1.75 and a beta of 0.31. Esperion Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $3.28 and a 1-year high of $10.02. The company has a fifty-day moving average price of $7.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $6.73.

Esperion Therapeutics Company Profile

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Esperion Therapeutics, Inc., a pharmaceutical company, develops and markets drugs for the treatment of patients with elevated low-density lipoprotein cholesterol. Its lead product candidates are NEXLETOL (bempedoic acid) and NEXLIZET (bempedoic acid and ezetimibe) tablets for the treatment of patients with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease or heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia.

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