Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) Shares Down 6.8% – Here’s Why

Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR)’s share price traded down 6.8% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $3.38 and last traded at $3.41. 3,604,589 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 42% from the average session volume of 6,164,863 shares. The stock had previously closed at $3.66.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Esperion Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $16.00 price objective on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on shares of Esperion Therapeutics from $8.00 to $6.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th.

Esperion Therapeutics Stock Performance

The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $2.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $2.18.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Esperion Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 71.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,826,546 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $23,655,000 after purchasing an additional 3,688,796 shares in the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 71.0% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 711,278 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,174,000 after buying an additional 295,378 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 38.4% in the third quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 23,346,013 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $38,521,000 after buying an additional 6,483,070 shares during the last quarter. 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 valued at $9,554,000 after buying an additional 2,087,635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Esperion Therapeutics by 3,278.3% in the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 572,323 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $1,271,000 after buying an additional 555,382 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 47.39% of the company’s stock.

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.