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

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $71.00 to $66.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Two investment 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, Amphastar Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $63.00.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 2.3 %

NASDAQ AMPH opened at $50.84 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $47.27 and its two-hundred day moving average is $43.19. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $36.56 and a 12 month high of $65.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 3.52 and a quick ratio of 2.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.59, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.83.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.85 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.10. The company had revenue of $182.39 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $171.29 million. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 23.36% and a return on equity of 29.79%. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals will post 3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Floyd F. Petersen sold 3,000 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the director now directly owns 75,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,504,256.23. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Amphastar Pharmaceuticals news, Director Richard K. Prins sold 17,101 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.07, for a total value of $736,540.07. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 33,971 shares in the company, valued at $1,463,130.97. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at 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 transaction, the director now owns 75,409 shares in the company, valued at $3,504,256.23. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 34,383 shares of company stock worth $1,524,123. Company insiders own 27.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,815,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $174,145,000 after acquiring an additional 48,203 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc grew its position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 67.4% during the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,691,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,663,000 after acquiring an additional 680,976 shares during the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. grew its position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 35.1% during the second quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,078,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,154,000 after acquiring an additional 280,390 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 19.7% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 740,408 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,616,000 after acquiring an additional 121,764 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Millennium Management LLC grew its position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 84.6% during the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 738,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,550,000 after acquiring an additional 338,653 shares during the last quarter. 65.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

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.