Brokerages Set Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH) Price Target at $31.00

Shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the eight research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Six 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 $31.00.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AMPH. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $30.00 price target on the stock.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of AMPH stock opened at $26.25 on Friday. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $20.39 and a 12 month high of $37.38. The company has a market capitalization of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.62, a P/E/G ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 0.89. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $26.69 and a two-hundred day moving average of $26.16. The company has a current ratio of 3.12, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $191.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $186.90 million. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 19.70% and a net margin of 15.43%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals will post 3.49 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Amphastar Pharmaceuticals news, Director Floyd F. Petersen sold 16,679 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.49, for a total value of $441,826.71. Following the sale, the director owned 75,531 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,000,816.19. The trade was a 18.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Rong Zhou sold 9,787 shares of the business’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 value of $256,419.40. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 138,043 shares in the company, valued at $3,616,726.60. This trade represents a 6.62% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 35,308 shares of company stock worth $931,637 over the last quarter. 27.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,233 shares of the company’s stock worth $60,000 after purchasing an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted 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. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 37.8% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,685 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the period. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS raised its position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 9,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Illumine Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 2.0% during the 3rd quarter. Illumine Investment Management LLC now owns 27,677 shares of the company’s stock worth $738,000 after buying an additional 551 shares during the period. 65.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.