Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) Stock Price Target Raised at Wells Fargo & Company

Key Points

• Wells Fargo raised its price target on Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $20 to $25 but maintained an “equal weight” rating; the new target implies 11.38% downside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: MarketBeat reports an average “Reduce” rating and a consensus price target of $23.33, with seven analysts rating the stock Hold and one Sell.
• Amphastar beat quarterly expectations, reporting earnings of $1.14 per share versus $0.86 expected and revenue of $207.61 million versus $197.52 million expected.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH - Get Free Report) had its price target raised by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $20.00 to $25.00 in a research report issued on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company's target price indicates a potential downside of 11.38% from the company's previous close.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 18th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a report on Wednesday. Piper Sandler dropped 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, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Sunday, November 1st. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average price target of $23.33.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.0%

Shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $0.55 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $28.21. 114,366 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 509,542. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $16.65 and a twelve month high of $31.00. The company has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a PE ratio of 16.62, a PEG ratio of 5.46 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $22.31.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 5th. The company reported $1.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.28. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 10.76%. The business had revenue of $207.61 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $197.52 million. Equities research analysts anticipate that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO William Peters sold 4,139 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total value of $103,475.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 168,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,217,675. This trade represents a 2.39% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Richard Prins sold 7,973 shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.30, for a total transaction of $161,851.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 29,625 shares of the company's stock, valued at $601,387.50. This trade represents a 21.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 25,299 shares of company stock valued at $580,036. Company insiders own 29.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in AMPH. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth about $4,689,000. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,761,000. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,580,000. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC raised its position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 54.6% during the 1st quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 187,348 shares of the company's stock worth $3,670,000 after buying an additional 66,172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC raised its position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 178.0% during the 2nd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 78,795 shares of the company's stock worth $1,590,000 after buying an additional 50,450 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.09% of the company's stock.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company that develops, manufactures and markets injectable, inhalation and intranasal products. The company focuses on technically challenging medicines, including complex generics, proprietary products and products based on its drug-delivery technologies.

Its product portfolio includes Primatene MIST, an over-the-counter epinephrine inhaler; Baqsimi, a nasal glucagon product used to treat severe hypoglycemia; and injectable medicines such as glucagon, naloxone, enoxaparin and hyaluronidase.

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