Investors Purchase Large Volume of Esperion Therapeutics Call Options (NASDAQ:ESPR)

Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Monday. Traders bought 2,720 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 124% compared to the typical daily volume of 1,216 call options.

Institutional Trading of Esperion Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of ESPR. Meridian Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Esperion Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new position in Esperion Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Esperion Therapeutics by 3,496.3% during the first quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC now owns 31,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $45,000 after buying an additional 30,138 shares in the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC grew its position in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 33.2% in the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 40,106 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $58,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crestline Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $63,000. 47.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on Esperion Therapeutics from $5.00 to $4.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 price target on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Esperion Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $4.00 price target (down from $7.00) on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Esperion Therapeutics has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.25.

Esperion Therapeutics Stock Up 1.7%

ESPR opened at $1.22 on Wednesday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $0.95 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1.68. The firm has a market cap of $241.80 million, a PE ratio of -1.91 and a beta of 0.67. Esperion Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $0.69 and a fifty-two week high of $3.94.

Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.21) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.18) by ($0.03). The firm had revenue of $65.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $54.97 million. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Esperion Therapeutics will post -0.29 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.