Rong Zhou Sells 3,187 Shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) Stock

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH) EVP Rong Zhou sold 3,187 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.63, for a total value of $75,308.81. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 169,203 shares in the company, valued at $3,998,266.89. The trade was a 1.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of AMPH traded up $0.10 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $23.84. The stock had a trading volume of 469,751 shares, compared to its average volume of 447,368. The company’s 50-day moving average is $20.48 and its 200 day moving average is $20.59. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.65 and a 12-month high of $29.78. The company has a current ratio of 2.40, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The company has a market capitalization of $1.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.57 and a beta of 0.92.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.29. The company had revenue of $183.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $179.92 million. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 10.76%. On average, equities analysts predict that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post 2.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AMPH. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 46.3% during the fourth quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 1,381 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 437 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 9,083 shares of the company’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 457 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC raised its position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 19,397 shares of the company’s stock valued at $478,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. Advisory Research Inc. raised its position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 3.8% during the 3rd quarter. Advisory Research Inc. now owns 15,468 shares of the company’s stock valued at $412,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 22,489 shares of the company’s stock worth $652,000 after buying an additional 613 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 7th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, Bank of America reaffirmed an “underperform” rating and set a $20.00 price objective (down from $25.00) on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amphastar Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $22.50.

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.