Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) CFO Sells $183,886.40 in Stock

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH) CFO William Peters sold 8,180 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.48, for a total transaction of $183,886.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 172,846 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,885,578.08. This represents a 4.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.0%

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $20.18 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $858.46 million, a PE ratio of 11.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 2.40. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.65 and a fifty-two week high of $31.26. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $19.81 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.19.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.29. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 10.76%.The company had revenue of $183.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $179.92 million. Research analysts expect that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

AMPH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, May 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Barclays reduced their target price 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Amphastar Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $22.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 46.3% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,381 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at $39,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,233 shares of the company’s stock valued at $60,000 after buying an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Private Client Wealth LLC raised its stake in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 410.1% in the fourth quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 2,418 shares of the company’s stock valued at $65,000 after buying an additional 1,944 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.