Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) Given "Hold" Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Key Points

• Needham reaffirmed a "Hold" on Amphastar, and the street consensus remains a Hold (1 Buy, 7 Hold, 1 Sell) with an average price target of $27.43 after several firms cut targets (Jefferies to $22, Barclays to $23, Wells Fargo to $30).
• Amphastar missed its most recent quarter, reporting EPS of $0.73 versus $0.97 expected and revenue of $183.11M versus $190.48M, while analysts project roughly 2.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.
• The stock trades around $24.03 with a market cap of about $1.07B and a P/E of 11.84, a 1‑year range of $17.03–$31.26, and roughly 65% institutional ownership with several hedge funds recently increasing stakes.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "hold" rating reaffirmed by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued on Friday,Benzinga reports.

Several other equities analysts have also weighed in on AMPH. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "sell (d+)" rating in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "hold" rating and issued a $22.00 price objective (down from $30.00) on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $23.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $27.43.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.5%

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $24.03 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.93 and a beta of 0.97. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $17.03 and a 1-year high of $31.26. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.80 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.57. The company has a current ratio of 4.02, a quick ratio of 2.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.24). The business had revenue of $183.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $190.48 million. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 13.63% and a return on equity of 17.58%. Research analysts anticipate that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals will post 2.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AMPH. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 363,216 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 382.9% in the 3rd quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 392,310 shares of the company's stock worth $10,455,000 after purchasing an additional 311,071 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at $7,560,000. Algert Global LLC increased its stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 216.1% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 392,902 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,471,000 after acquiring an additional 268,612 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 367.2% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 312,274 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,322,000 after acquiring an additional 245,440 shares in the last quarter. 65.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.