Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 6,212 Shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH) by 2.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 232,740 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,212 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.48% of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals worth $8,728,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in AMPH. Point72 Middle East FZE bought a new position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $50,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at about $74,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its holdings in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 206.9% during the first quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 1,998 shares of the company’s stock valued at $75,000 after acquiring an additional 1,347 shares in the last quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 114.4% during the first quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 2,770 shares of the company’s stock valued at $99,000 after acquiring an additional 1,478 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State of Wyoming increased its holdings in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 77.0% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 3,835 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,000 after acquiring an additional 1,668 shares in the last quarter. 65.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMPH opened at $54.36 on Thursday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $57.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $46.17. The firm has a market cap of $2.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.88 and a beta of 0.82. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $26.76 and a 52 week high of $67.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.83.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 8th. The company reported $0.58 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.52 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $145.71 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $137.20 million. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 20.12% and a net margin of 18.85%. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post 2.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amphastar Pharmaceuticals news, CFO William J. Peters sold 36,868 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.85, for a total value of $1,874,737.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 105,603 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,369,912.55. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Amphastar Pharmaceuticals news, CFO William J. Peters sold 11,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.35, for a total value of $509,850.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 105,603 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,894,699.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO William J. Peters sold 36,868 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.85, for a total value of $1,874,737.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 105,603 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,369,912.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 101,443 shares of company stock worth $5,250,802. Corporate insiders own 27.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, July 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $70.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $66.00 to $71.00 in a report on Wednesday, August 9th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 24th.

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. The company operates through two segments, Finished Pharmaceutical Products and Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient (API).