Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) Price Target Raised to $23.00

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) had its price target lifted by Barclays from $20.00 to $23.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on AMPH. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target 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. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated an “underperform” rating and set a $20.00 price target (down from $25.00) on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, June 29th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $22.50.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

AMPH opened at $21.68 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 2.40. The company has a market cap of $922.27 million, a PE ratio of 12.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $19.94 and a 200-day moving average of $21.02. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $16.65 and a 52-week high of $31.26.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) last posted its earnings results 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, equities research analysts forecast that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals will post 2.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CFO William J. Peters sold 8,180 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.48, for a total value of $183,886.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 172,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,885,578.08. This represents a 4.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Richard K. Prins sold 7,973 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.30, for a total value of $161,851.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 29,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $601,387.50. The trade was a 21.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 29.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AMPH. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 46.3% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,381 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 437 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 9,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $243,000 after acquiring an additional 457 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 19,397 shares of the company’s stock worth $478,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the period. Finally, Advisory Research Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Advisory Research Inc. now owns 15,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $412,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the period. 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.