Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) General Counsel Benjamin Looker Sells 6,517 Shares

Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:ESPR) General Counsel Benjamin Looker sold 6,517 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.67, for a total transaction of $23,917.39. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 385,905 shares in the company, valued at $1,416,271.35. This trade represents a 1.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Esperion Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of ESPR opened at $3.80 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $908.43 million, a PE ratio of -7.60 and a beta of 1.01. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $3.19 and a 200-day moving average of $2.29. Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. has a one year low of $0.69 and a one year high of $4.13.

Esperion Therapeutics (NASDAQ:ESPR) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The biopharmaceutical company reported ($0.16) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.07). The company had revenue of $87.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $78.33 million. Analysts expect that Esperion Therapeutics, Inc. will post -0.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ESPR has been the subject of several research analyst reports. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $16.00 target price on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, November 25th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $9.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Esperion Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, November 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Esperion Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $7.20.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Esperion Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in ESPR. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Esperion Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at $56,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in Esperion Therapeutics by 40,487.0% in the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 31,252 shares of the biopharmaceutical company’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 31,175 shares in the last quarter. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC bought a new stake in Esperion Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $113,000. Voleon Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Esperion Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $551,000. Finally, Mariner LLC bought a new position in Esperion Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $802,000. 47.39% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.