Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) Raised to “Buy” at StockNews.com

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) was upgraded by investment analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued on Friday.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on AMPH. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $71.00 to $66.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.00.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ:AMPH opened at $50.09 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.52, a quick ratio of 2.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market cap of $2.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.33, a PEG ratio of 0.85 and a beta of 0.82. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $44.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.65. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $36.56 and a 12-month high of $65.92.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.10. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 23.36% and a return on equity of 29.79%. The business had revenue of $182.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $171.29 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals will post 3.71 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Rong Zhou sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.35, for a total value of $193,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 118,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,724,059.80. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Amphastar Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Rong Zhou sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $48.35, for a total value of $193,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 118,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,724,059.80. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Floyd F. Petersen sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.47, for a total transaction of $139,410.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 75,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,504,256.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 37,979 shares of company stock worth $1,671,307. 27.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 379,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,471,000 after acquiring an additional 27,102 shares during the last quarter. Principal Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC acquired a new stake in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $641,000. Quadrant Capital Group LLC increased its holdings in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 27.8% during the 4th quarter. Quadrant Capital Group LLC now owns 1,026 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,000 after purchasing an additional 223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new stake in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $473,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.09% of the company’s stock.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a bio-pharmaceutical company, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells generic and proprietary injectable, inhalation, and intranasal products in the United States, China, and France. It offers BAQSIMI, a nasal spray for the treatment of severe hypoglycemia; Primatene Mist, an over-the-counter epinephrine inhalation product for the temporary relief of mild symptoms of intermittent asthma; Enoxaparin, to prevent and treat deep vein thrombosis; REXTOVY and Naloxone for opioid overdose; Glucagon for injection emergency kit; and Cortrosyn, for use as a diagnostic agent in the screening of patients with adrenocortical insufficiency.