Vanguard Group Inc. Acquires 2,853,005 Shares of Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. $ESPR

Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR) by 23.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,945,454 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,853,005 shares during the quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 6.25% of Esperion Therapeutics worth $55,298,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ESPR. Sivia Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Esperion Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $25,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Esperion Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Esperion Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $33,000. KFG Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Esperion Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 49.0% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 11,617 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $43,000 after purchasing an additional 3,822 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 47.39% of the company’s stock.

Esperion Therapeutics Price Performance

Esperion Therapeutics stock opened at $3.12 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $2.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $3.10. Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $0.75 and a fifty-two week high of $4.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $803.18 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -52.00, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.91.

Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, May 8th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.10) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.02) by ($0.08). Esperion Therapeutics had a negative return on equity of 0.14% and a net margin of 0.12%.The firm had revenue of $80.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $84.52 million. As a group, analysts predict that Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. will post 0.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ESPR. Needham & Company LLC lowered shares of Esperion Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Esperion Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Citizens Jmp lowered shares of Esperion Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. HC Wainwright lowered shares of Esperion Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $3.16 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered shares of Esperion Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $5.54.

Esperion Therapeutics Profile

Esperion Therapeutics, Inc is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development and commercialization of oral, low–density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C)–lowering therapies. The company’s research and development efforts center on small-molecule compounds designed to address atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease by targeting cholesterol biosynthesis pathways. Esperion seeks to provide novel treatment options for patients who require additional LDL-C reduction beyond what is achieved with statins or who are statin-intolerant.

The company’s lead products include NEXLETOL (bempedoic acid), an oral adenosine triphosphate–citrate lyase (ACL) inhibitor approved by the U.S.