Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH) shares gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $24.03, but opened at $18.58. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $19.4380, with a volume of 554,654 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on AMPH. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $23.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $22.00 target price (down from $30.00) on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.43.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 23.9%

The company has a market capitalization of $814.77 million, a PE ratio of 9.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.97. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 2.90 and a current ratio of 4.02.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.73 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $183.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $190.48 million. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 17.58% and a net margin of 13.63%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in AMPH. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 356.0% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 944 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 737 shares during the last quarter. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 219.0% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,024 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 703 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth $32,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 37.8% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.09% of the company’s stock.

About Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a specialty pharmaceutical company headquartered in Rancho Cucamonga, California. Founded in 2004, Amphastar focuses on the development, manufacturing and commercialization of injectable and inhalation products. The company’s manufacturing facilities in California produce both generic and proprietary formulations designed to address urgent and chronic medical conditions.

Amphastar’s portfolio includes a range of injectable generics such as epinephrine, naloxone and lidocaine, serving hospital, emergency medical and retail pharmacy channels.