Esperion Therapeutics Inc (ESPR): Smart Money Doubles Down

As industry-wide interest jumped, key money managers were leading the bulls’ herd. Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies initiated the biggest position in Esperion Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ESPR). Renaissance Technologies had $4.4 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Israel Englander’s Millennium Management also initiated a $1 million position during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new ESPR investors: David E. Shaw’s D E Shaw, Peter Muller’s PDT Partners, and Stuart Weisbrod’s Iguana Healthcare Management.

Let’s check out hedge fund activity in other stocks – not necessarily in the same industry as Esperion Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ESPR) but similarly valued. These stocks are RAIT Financial Trust (NYSE:RAS), Straight Path Communications Inc (NYSEMKT:STRP), Primero Mining Corp (NYSE:PPP), and Idera Pharmaceuticals Inc (NASDAQ:IDRA). This group of stocks’ market caps are similar to ESPR’s market cap.

As you can see these stocks had an average of 8 hedge funds with bullish positions and the average amount invested in these stocks was $30 million. That figure was $75 million in ESPR’s case. RAIT Financial Trust (NYSE:RAS) is the most popular stock in this table. On the other hand Primero Mining Corp (NYSE:PPP) is the least popular one with only 5 bullish hedge fund positions. Compared to these stocks Esperion Therapeutics Inc (NASDAQ:ESPR) is more popular among hedge funds. Considering that hedge funds are fond of this stock in relation to its market cap peers and were all over it in Q3, it may be a good idea to analyze it in detail and potentially include it in your portfolio.

Disclosure: None