Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) was downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Several other research firms have also commented on AMPH. Zacks Research raised shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $20.00 target price (down from $25.00) on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, June 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays upped their target price on Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 18th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $22.50.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

AMPH stock opened at $23.78 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.84 and its 200 day simple moving average is $20.38. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $16.65 and a 12-month high of $29.52. The firm has a market cap of $1.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.07, a P/E/G ratio of 4.58 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.29. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 14.98%. The firm had revenue of $183.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $179.92 million. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals will post 2.46 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

In related news, EVP Rong Zhou sold 3,187 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.63, for a total value of $75,308.81. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 169,203 shares in the company, valued at $3,998,266.89. This trade represents a 1.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard Prins sold 7,973 shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.30, for a total value of $161,851.90. Following the sale, the director directly owned 29,625 shares in the company, valued at $601,387.50. The trade was a 21.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 19,340 shares of company stock worth $421,047 in the last three months. 29.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of AMPH. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 82.0% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 53,638 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,555,000 after purchasing an additional 24,167 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its stake in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 22,489 shares of the company’s stock valued at $652,000 after buying an additional 613 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 43.0% during the 1st quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 60,289 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,748,000 after buying an additional 18,133 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership bought a new stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,865,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 7.7% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 386,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,885,000 after buying an additional 27,828 shares in the last quarter. 65.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company that develops, manufactures and markets injectable, inhaled and intranasal products. The company focuses on complex and technically challenging medicines, including products for diabetes, emergency medicine, respiratory conditions and other specialty-care applications.

Its marketed products include glucagon for treating severe hypoglycemia, BAQSIMI nasal glucagon, Primatene MIST for temporary relief of mild intermittent asthma symptoms, naloxone products for opioid overdose emergencies, and enoxaparin sodium injection, an anticoagulant.