Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH) Receives $31.00 Average PT from Brokerages

Shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eight analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $31.00.

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Barclays began coverage on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $30.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research cut shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amphastar Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Rong Zhou sold 9,787 shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.20, for a total value of $256,419.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 138,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,616,726.60. This trade represents a 6.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard K. Prins sold 4,179 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.10, for a total value of $113,250.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 35,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $953,459.30. The trade was a 10.62% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 35,308 shares of company stock valued at $931,637. 27.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 7.9% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,755,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,789,000 after acquiring an additional 128,781 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 973,237 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,348,000 after purchasing an additional 18,161 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 874,068 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,294,000 after purchasing an additional 25,383 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 238.5% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 868,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,179,000 after buying an additional 611,995 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 81.3% in the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 469,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,780,000 after buying an additional 210,511 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.09% of the company’s stock.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMPH opened at $26.46 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a current ratio of 3.12 and a quick ratio of 2.21. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $20.39 and a 1 year high of $39.01. The company has a market capitalization of $1.22 billion, a PE ratio of 11.71, a P/E/G ratio of 7.18 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a fifty day moving average of $26.17 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.73.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $191.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $186.90 million. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 19.70% and a net margin of 15.43%. As a group, analysts expect that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.