Empowered Funds LLC Invests $3.29 Million in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $AMPH

Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 162,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,286,000. Empowered Funds LLC owned about 0.38% of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in AMPH. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 12.7% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,027,947 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,726,000 after buying an additional 228,262 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,963,052 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,571,000 after buying an additional 31,160 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,531,786 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,021,000 after acquiring an additional 31,044 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,394,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,344,000 after acquiring an additional 40,536 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 41.6% during the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,237,284 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,134,000 after acquiring an additional 363,216 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMPH has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, May 8th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $22.50.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:AMPH opened at $22.96 on Wednesday. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.65 and a 52-week high of $31.26. The stock has a market cap of $976.67 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.59, a PEG ratio of 4.34 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $20.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.65.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $183.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $179.92 million. Equities analysts predict that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post 2.46 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

In other Amphastar Pharmaceuticals news, CFO William J. Peters sold 8,180 shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.48, for a total transaction of $183,886.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 172,846 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,885,578.08. The trade was a 4.52% decrease in their position. 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. Also, Director Richard K. Prins sold 7,973 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.30, for a total transaction of $161,851.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 29,625 shares in the company, valued at $601,387.50. This trade represents a 21.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 29.60% 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.