Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH) has been assigned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $29.50.

A number of brokerages have recently commented on AMPH. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price 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. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $30.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 29th.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

AMPH opened at $18.17 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $824.37 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 8.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.52 and a beta of 0.93. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $17.03 and a 52 week high of $31.26. The business’s 50 day moving average is $25.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $26.27. The company has a quick ratio of 2.90, a current ratio of 4.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Amphastar Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Rong Zhou sold 9,787 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,616,726.60. This represents a 6.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 27.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AMPH. TD Asset Management Inc raised its stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,963,052 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,571,000 after purchasing an additional 31,160 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,799,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,196,000 after purchasing an additional 44,020 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,531,786 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,021,000 after buying an additional 31,044 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,394,463 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,344,000 after buying an additional 40,536 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 41.6% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,237,284 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,134,000 after buying an additional 363,216 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.09% of the company’s stock.

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.