Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH) Short Interest Up 6.1% in December

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH) saw a large increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,370,000 shares, an increase of 6.1% from the November 30th total of 4,120,000 shares. Currently, 12.2% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 424,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 10.3 days.

Insider Activity

In other Amphastar Pharmaceuticals news, Director Richard K. Prins sold 10,000 shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.77, for a total value of $437,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 30,471 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,333,715.67. The trade was a 24.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Rong Zhou sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.42, for a total value of $310,940.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 118,469 shares in the company, valued at $5,262,392.98. The trade was a 5.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 41,533 shares of company stock valued at $1,987,482. 27.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AMPH. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 218,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,605,000 after purchasing an additional 21,530 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth $11,070,000. Wellington Management Group LLP purchased a new stake in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at $957,000. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at $426,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth $674,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.09% of the company’s stock.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

AMPH opened at $36.36 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.12, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.78. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $44.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $44.32. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $36.07 and a 1-year high of $65.92. The company has a current ratio of 3.43, a quick ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on AMPH. StockNews.com lowered shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, November 22nd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $60.33.

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.