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

Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 41,730,000 shares, a growth of 9.4% from the July 31st total of 38,140,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 7,010,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.0 days. Approximately 21.5% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Esperion Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESPR. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its holdings in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 104.8% during the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 35,254 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $78,000 after acquiring an additional 18,036 shares in the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in Esperion Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $159,000. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C purchased a new position in shares of Esperion Therapeutics in the second quarter worth $148,000. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 94.2% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 4,303,596 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $9,554,000 after buying an additional 2,087,635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Xponance Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics during the second quarter worth $28,000. 47.39% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Esperion Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ ESPR remained flat at $1.83 on Tuesday. 4,859,928 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,932,493. The company has a market capitalization of $346.71 million, a PE ratio of -1.85 and a beta of 1.02. Esperion Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $0.70 and a fifty-two week high of $3.40. The business has a 50-day moving average of $2.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $2.30.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America lowered Esperion Therapeutics from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $2.90 to $2.50 in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. StockNews.com lowered Esperion Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, August 12th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on Esperion Therapeutics from $8.00 to $6.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 13th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.