Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Thursday morning.

Several other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $71.00 to $66.00 and set an overweight rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a hold rating on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Amphastar Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $63.00.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 3.2 %

NASDAQ:AMPH opened at $46.52 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 3.52 and a quick ratio of 2.63. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $36.56 and a one year high of $65.92. The company has a market cap of $2.27 billion, a PE ratio of 16.10, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 0.82. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $43.07 and a 200-day moving average of $42.72.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.85 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.10. The business had revenue of $182.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $171.29 million. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 29.79% and a net margin of 23.36%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals will post 3.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

In other Amphastar Pharmaceuticals news, Director Floyd F. Petersen sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.47, for a total value of $139,410.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 75,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,504,256.23. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Rong Zhou sold 4,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.35, for a total transaction of $193,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 118,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,724,059.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Floyd F. Petersen sold 3,000 shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $46.47, for a total transaction of $139,410.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 75,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,504,256.23. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 37,979 shares of company stock valued at $1,671,307. 27.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of AMPH. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 379,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,471,000 after acquiring an additional 27,102 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 348.7% during the fourth quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 592,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,648,000 after purchasing an additional 460,473 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc boosted its position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 449.0% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 793,559 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,082,000 after purchasing an additional 649,001 shares during the period. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC boosted its position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 35.1% during the first quarter. Silvercrest Asset Management Group LLC now owns 112,428 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,937,000 after purchasing an additional 29,182 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 2,648.8% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 21,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,314,000 after purchasing an additional 20,475 shares in the last quarter. 65.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a bio-pharmaceutical company, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells generic and proprietary injectable, inhalation, and intranasal products in the United States, China, and France. It offers BAQSIMI, a nasal spray for the treatment of severe hypoglycemia; Primatene Mist, an over-the-counter epinephrine inhalation product for the temporary relief of mild symptoms of intermittent asthma; Enoxaparin, to prevent and treat deep vein thrombosis; REXTOVY and Naloxone for opioid overdose; Glucagon for injection emergency kit; and Cortrosyn, for use as a diagnostic agent in the screening of patients with adrenocortical insufficiency.