Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) Rating Lowered to Strong Sell at Zacks Research

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) was downgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

AMPH has been the subject of a number of other reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, May 8th. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, June 3rd. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $21.00 price objective (down from $25.00) on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $22.00 target price (down from $30.00) on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $24.00.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 6.5%

NASDAQ AMPH opened at $19.53 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $19.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.96. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $16.65 and a one year high of $31.26. The firm has a market cap of $861.08 million, a PE ratio of 11.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.60 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a current ratio of 3.85 and a quick ratio of 2.82.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.70 by ($0.28). The business had revenue of $171.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $173.46 million. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 11.00% and a return on equity of 15.12%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals will post 2.41 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Marshall Wace LLP raised its holdings in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 41.6% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,237,284 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,134,000 after purchasing an additional 363,216 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 382.9% during the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 392,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,455,000 after purchasing an additional 311,071 shares in the last quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at $7,560,000. Algert Global LLC grew its holdings in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 216.1% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 392,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,471,000 after buying an additional 268,612 shares during the period. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 367.2% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 312,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,322,000 after buying an additional 245,440 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.09% of the company’s stock.

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.