National Bank of Canada FI Raises Stake in Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR)

National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR) by 115.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,050 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,225 shares during the period. National Bank of Canada FI’s holdings in Esperion Therapeutics were worth $44,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Esperion Therapeutics by 71.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,826,546 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $23,655,000 after buying an additional 3,688,796 shares in the last quarter. Armistice Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth about $9,568,000. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Esperion Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $77,000. Bellevue Group AG lifted its stake in Esperion Therapeutics by 136.5% during the first quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 9,944,064 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $26,650,000 after purchasing an additional 5,739,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Foundations Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Esperion Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $60,000. 47.39% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Esperion Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of Esperion Therapeutics stock opened at $1.91 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $2.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $2.25. Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $0.70 and a 1 year high of $3.40. The company has a market capitalization of $374.80 million, a P/E ratio of -1.93 and a beta of 1.00.

Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 12th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.05) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.15) by $0.10. The company had revenue of $73.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $51.90 million. As a group, equities analysts expect that Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.04 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 price objective on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, August 12th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Esperion Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Bank of America lowered Esperion Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $2.90 to $2.50 in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on Esperion Therapeutics from $8.00 to $6.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Esperion Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $8.17.

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.