Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) Price Target Raised to $23.00

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) had its target price lifted by equities research analysts at Barclays from $20.00 to $23.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Barclays‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 7.07% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on AMPH. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, May 8th. Wall Street Zen raised Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $22.50.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of AMPH traded up $0.62 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $21.48. The company had a trading volume of 224,728 shares, compared to its average volume of 528,777. 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 has a 12-month low of $16.65 and a 12-month high of $31.26. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $19.86 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.12. The company has a market capitalization of $913.80 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.73, a PEG ratio of 4.41 and a beta of 0.89.

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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $179.92 million. Research analysts expect that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director Richard K. Prins sold 7,973 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.30, for a total transaction of $161,851.90. Following the sale, the director owned 29,625 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $601,387.50. The trade was a 21.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO William J. Peters sold 8,180 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.48, for a total transaction of $183,886.40. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 172,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,885,578.08. This represents a 4.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Company insiders own 29.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 12.7% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,027,947 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,726,000 after purchasing an additional 228,262 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,963,052 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,571,000 after purchasing an additional 31,160 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,531,786 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,021,000 after buying an additional 31,044 shares in the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,394,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,344,000 after buying an additional 40,536 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 41.6% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,237,284 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,134,000 after buying an additional 363,216 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.09% of the company’s stock.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.