Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB Sells 60,000 Shares of Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR)

Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB lessened its holdings in Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR) by 3.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,915,000 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock after selling 60,000 shares during the period. Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB’s holdings in Esperion Therapeutics were worth $4,213,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ESPR. Rangeley Capital LLC purchased a new position in Esperion Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at $235,000. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its stake in Esperion Therapeutics by 55.0% during the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 255,066 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $561,000 after acquiring an additional 90,522 shares during the period. Summit Financial LLC raised its stake in Esperion Therapeutics by 18.2% during the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 46,528 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock worth $102,000 after acquiring an additional 7,150 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in Esperion Therapeutics by 18.6% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,454,216 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $5,399,000 after purchasing an additional 385,099 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Virtu Financial LLC bought a new position in Esperion Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth $291,000. 47.39% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESPR has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group began coverage on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $4.00 price objective for the company. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 price objective on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, March 20th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $4.00 price objective (down from $7.00) on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Esperion Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $8.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $6.00 price target on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a report on Friday, December 13th. One 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.75.

Esperion Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of ESPR stock opened at $1.23 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $1.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $2.05. Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $1.17 and a 52-week high of $3.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $243.35 million, a P/E ratio of -1.92 and a beta of 1.04.

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.