Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) Upgraded at Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) to a hold rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

AMPH has been the topic of several other reports. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 26th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $31.00.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $25.71 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.21, a current ratio of 3.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78. The company has a market capitalization of $1.18 billion, a PE ratio of 11.38, a P/E/G ratio of 7.19 and a beta of 0.91. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.57 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.65. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $20.39 and a twelve month high of $45.39.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $191.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $186.90 million. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 19.70% and a net margin of 15.43%. Research analysts expect that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals will post 3.49 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Richard K. Prins sold 4,179 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.10, for a total value of $113,250.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 35,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $953,459.30. This trade represents a 10.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Floyd F. Petersen sold 16,679 shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.49, for a total transaction of $441,826.71. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 75,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,000,816.19. This trade represents a 18.09% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,858 shares of company stock valued at $581,313. 27.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 13.8% in the first quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,783 shares of the company’s stock worth $139,000 after buying an additional 580 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,773,000. Public Sector Pension Investment Board raised its position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 27.2% in the 1st quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 118,885 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,446,000 after acquiring an additional 25,455 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 950.0% in the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 2,058 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after acquiring an additional 1,862 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient IA LLC purchased a new position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $217,000. 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.