Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH) Receives $29.50 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eight analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and two have issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $29.50.

AMPH has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays initiated coverage on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $30.00 target price on the stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Rong Zhou sold 9,787 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.20, for a total value of $256,419.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 138,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,616,726.60. This trade represents a 6.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 27.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMPH. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 41.6% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,237,284 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,134,000 after acquiring an additional 363,216 shares during the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 382.9% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 392,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,455,000 after purchasing an additional 311,071 shares during the last quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth approximately $7,560,000. Algert Global LLC raised its stake in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 216.1% in the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 392,902 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,471,000 after purchasing an additional 268,612 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG raised its stake in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 367.2% in the third quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 312,274 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,322,000 after purchasing an additional 245,440 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 $19.41 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 2.90 and a current ratio of 4.02. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $17.03 and a fifty-two week high of $31.26. The stock has a market cap of $880.63 million, a PE ratio of 9.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.93. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $25.62 and a 200-day moving average of $26.14.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.24). The company had revenue of $183.11 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $190.48 million. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 17.58% and a net margin of 13.63%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current year.

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.