Wall Street Zen Upgrades Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) to Strong-Buy

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) was upgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report issued on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Bank of America restated an “underperform” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective (down from $25.00) on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $22.50.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMPH opened at $25.43 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.05, a PEG ratio of 4.90 and a beta of 0.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $22.56 and a 200 day moving average of $20.80. The company has a current ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $16.65 and a twelve month high of $29.52.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.29. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 14.98%. The company had revenue of $183.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $179.92 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals will post 2.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CFO William Peters sold 4,139 shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total value of $103,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 168,707 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,217,675. The trade was a 2.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Richard Prins sold 7,973 shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.30, for a total value of $161,851.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 29,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $601,387.50. This trade represents a 21.21% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 33,479 shares of company stock worth $763,922 over the last quarter. 29.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. State of Wyoming acquired a new position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth about $142,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board purchased a new position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at about $232,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at about $288,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at about $308,000. 65.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company that develops, manufactures and markets injectable, inhaled and intranasal products. The company focuses on technically challenging medicines, including generic and proprietary products used in emergency care, respiratory treatment, diabetes management and other therapeutic areas.

Its marketed products include Primatene MIST, an over-the-counter epinephrine inhaler for temporary relief of mild, intermittent asthma symptoms; BAQSIMI, a ready-to-use nasal glucagon product for severe hypoglycemia; glucagon injection; Amphadase, a hyaluronidase product; and enoxaparin, an anticoagulant.