Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) Upgraded to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on AMPH. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $22.00 price target (down from $30.00) on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays lowered their price target on Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, June 3rd. 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 report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $22.00.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:AMPH opened at $19.30 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $19.26 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $850.94 million, a P/E ratio of 11.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.85 and a beta of 0.89. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $16.65 and a 12-month high of $31.26. The company has a quick ratio of 2.82, a current ratio of 3.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.42 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.70 by ($0.28). The company had revenue of $171.17 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $173.46 million. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 15.12% and a net margin of 11.00%. On average, equities analysts expect that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals will post 2.41 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AMPH. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,504,000. Denali Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 56.9% in the fourth quarter. Denali Advisors LLC now owns 211,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,671,000 after purchasing an additional 76,765 shares during the last quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 72.8% in the fourth quarter. Bridge City Capital LLC now owns 235,485 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,306,000 after purchasing an additional 99,227 shares during the period. TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,963,052 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,571,000 after purchasing an additional 31,160 shares during the period. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth about $1,666,000. 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.