Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (AMPH) – What Are Investment Firms Saying About This Stock?

Shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” by the eight brokerages that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and seven have given a hold rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $22.50.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on AMPH shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research upgraded Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen cut Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Barclays increased their price target on Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $25.14 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $24.30 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.46. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $16.65 and a 1-year high of $29.52. The company has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.88, a PEG ratio of 4.84 and a beta of 0.90.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $183.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $179.92 million. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 10.76%. As a group, analysts anticipate that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals will post 2.46 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Rong Zhou sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.94, for a total transaction of $239,400.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 169,203 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,050,719.82. This represents a 5.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard K. Prins sold 7,973 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.30, for a total transaction of $161,851.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 29,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $601,387.50. The trade was a 21.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 33,479 shares of company stock worth $763,922 in the last quarter. 29.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 183.3% during the 3rd quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,422 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 920 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 122,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,391,000 after buying an additional 1,156 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $39,000. Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 29.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 12,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $332,000 after buying an additional 2,937 shares during the period. Finally, State of Wyoming acquired a new position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $142,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.09% of the company’s stock.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company that develops, manufactures and markets injectable, inhalation and intranasal products. The company focuses on technically challenging medicines, including complex generics, proprietary products and products based on its drug-delivery technologies.

Its product portfolio includes Primatene MIST, an over-the-counter epinephrine inhaler; Baqsimi, a nasal glucagon product used to treat severe hypoglycemia; and injectable medicines such as glucagon, naloxone, enoxaparin and hyaluronidase.