Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR) Short Interest Update

Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 24,890,000 shares, a growth of 13.7% from the May 31st total of 21,890,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 8,420,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days. Currently, 16.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Institutional Trading of Esperion Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Bayesian Capital Management LP bought a new position in shares of Esperion Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $137,000. Bellevue Group AG grew its stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 136.5% during the 1st quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 9,944,064 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,650,000 after acquiring an additional 5,739,800 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 71.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,826,546 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $23,655,000 after acquiring an additional 3,688,796 shares in the last quarter. Tocqueville Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in shares of Esperion Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $107,000. Finally, State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System bought a new position in shares of Esperion Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth approximately $50,000. 47.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ESPR. StockNews.com cut shares of Esperion Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, May 17th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $8.00 target price on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, June 28th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Esperion Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and cut their target price for the company from $2.90 to $2.50 in a research report on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $16.00 price target on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, June 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Esperion Therapeutics has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $8.83.

Esperion Therapeutics Stock Performance

ESPR stock traded up $0.01 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $2.35. 2,091,661 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,572,310. The firm has a market cap of $445.23 million, a P/E ratio of -2.36 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $2.33 and its 200 day simple moving average is $2.41. Esperion Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $0.70 and a 1-year high of $3.40.

Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The biopharmaceutical company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.08) by $0.42. The company had revenue of $137.74 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $53.11 million. On average, equities research analysts predict that Esperion Therapeutics will post -0.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Esperion Therapeutics Company Profile

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.