Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH) Receives $31.00 Consensus Price Target from Analysts

Shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH) have received a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eight ratings firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $31.00.

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research cut Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $30.00 price objective for the company.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ AMPH opened at $25.92 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $26.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.10. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $20.39 and a fifty-two week high of $37.65. The stock has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a PE ratio of 11.47, a PEG ratio of 4.59 and a beta of 0.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a current ratio of 3.12.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $191.84 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $186.90 million. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 15.43% and a return on equity of 19.70%. On average, equities analysts expect that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals will post 3.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Rong Zhou sold 9,787 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.20, for a total transaction of $256,419.40. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 138,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,616,726.60. The trade was a 6.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 transaction, the director directly owned 35,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $953,459.30. This represents a 10.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 35,308 shares of company stock worth $931,637 over the last 90 days. 27.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 46.3% in the 4th quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,381 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 437 shares during the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue raised its stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 34.3% during the 4th quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue now owns 27,916 shares of the company’s stock worth $747,000 after acquiring an additional 7,128 shares in the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,504,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 37.8% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. 65.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.