By otakuyassine3@gmail.com 
Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR – Get Free Report) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 25,470,000 shares, a decline of 16.5% from the November 30th total of 30,490,000 shares. Currently, 13.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 5,540,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.6 days.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $6.00 price objective on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, December 13th. StockNews.com cut Esperion Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. 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 objective on the stock. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $16.00 target price on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on Esperion Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $4.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Esperion Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $7.30.
Get Our Latest Analysis on Esperion Therapeutics
Esperion Therapeutics Trading Down 1.7 %
NASDAQ:ESPR traded down $0.04 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $2.28. 3,067,721 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,323,605. The stock has a market capitalization of $449.24 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.56 and a beta of 1.01. Esperion Therapeutics has a one year low of $1.58 and a one year high of $3.94. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $2.21.
Institutional Investors Weigh In On Esperion Therapeutics
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ESPR. Wasatch Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 38.4% during the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 23,346,013 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $38,521,000 after buying an additional 6,483,070 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in 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 valued at $7,148,000 after acquiring an additional 171,609 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in Esperion Therapeutics by 94.2% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,303,596 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,554,000 after acquiring an additional 2,087,635 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,854,314 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $6,360,000 after acquiring an additional 99,802 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,069,117 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $3,414,000 after purchasing an additional 19,588 shares during the period. 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.
Further Reading
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