Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $AMPH Shares Bought by New York State Common Retirement Fund

New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH) by 86.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 90,169 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 41,800 shares during the quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund owned approximately 0.19% of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals worth $2,403,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of AMPH. Capital Fund Management S.A. purchased a new stake in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth approximately $931,000. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC purchased a new stake in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth $3,447,000. Nordea Investment Management AB increased its holdings in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% in the 2nd quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 152,015 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,490,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $1,018,000. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 188.8% during the second quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 60,955 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,400,000 after purchasing an additional 39,846 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.09% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

AMPH has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Barclays began coverage on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $30.00 target price on the stock. Zacks Research lowered shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, November 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.00.

Insider Transactions at Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

In other Amphastar Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Rong Zhou sold 9,787 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.20, for a total value of $256,419.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president owned 138,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,616,726.60. This trade represents a 6.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Richard K. Prins sold 4,179 shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.10, for a total value of $113,250.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 35,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $953,459.30. The trade was a 10.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 34,808 shares of company stock worth $919,002. 27.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of NASDAQ AMPH opened at $29.26 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 stock’s 50 day moving average price is $26.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.51. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.39 and a 52-week high of $32.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.95, a PEG ratio of 5.18 and a beta of 0.88.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.83 by $0.10. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 19.70% and a net margin of 15.43%.The company had revenue of $191.84 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $186.90 million. On average, analysts anticipate that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.