Royce & Associates LP Grows Stake in Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. $ESPR

Royce & Associates LP increased its holdings in shares of Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR) by 57.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,601,523 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,308,035 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP owned approximately 1.51% of Esperion Therapeutics worth $13,326,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ESPR. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 23.6% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 14,945,454 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $55,298,000 after purchasing an additional 2,853,005 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 46.2% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 5,312,252 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $5,206,000 after purchasing an additional 1,679,294 shares in the last quarter. Integral Health Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $3,975,000. AIGH Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Esperion Therapeutics by 33.3% during the fourth quarter. AIGH Capital Management LLC now owns 4,000,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $14,800,000 after buying an additional 1,000,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC boosted its stake in Esperion Therapeutics by 115.4% during the third quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 974,856 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $2,583,000 after buying an additional 522,206 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 47.39% of the company’s stock.

Esperion Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ:ESPR opened at $3.13 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $805.76 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -52.17, a PEG ratio of 2.53 and a beta of 0.91. Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $0.79 and a 1 year high of $4.18. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $2.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $3.12.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ESPR shares. Wall Street Zen raised Esperion Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Esperion Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Esperion Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered Esperion Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, May 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Esperion Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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.