Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) Stock Rating Cut to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen downgraded Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from “strong buy” to “buy,” while the broader analyst consensus remains “Reduce,” with seven Hold ratings and one Sell rating and an average price target of $22.50.
• Amphastar shares opened at $27.72, up 2.9%, and trade near their 52-week high of $29.52. The company recently reported quarterly EPS of $0.91, exceeding the $0.62 consensus estimate, while revenue also topped expectations.
• Company insiders sold 33,479 shares worth approximately $763,922 over the past three months, although insiders still own 29.60% of the stock and institutional investors hold 65.09%.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH - Get Free Report) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Sunday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a "sell (d+)" rating to a "hold (c-)" rating in a report on Friday, October 16th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target 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. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Barclays upped 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $22.50.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 2.9%

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $27.72 on Friday. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $16.65 and a 1 year high of $29.52. The firm's 50-day moving average is $24.76 and its 200-day moving average is $22.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 2.40. The company has a market cap of $1.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.40, a PEG ratio of 5.41 and a beta of 0.90.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.29. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 14.98%. The business had revenue of $183.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $179.92 million. On average, equities analysts expect that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals will post 2.43 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Rong Zhou sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.94, for a total transaction of $239,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 169,203 shares in the company, valued at $4,050,719.82. This trade represents a 5.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO William J. Peters sold 4,139 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $103,475.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 168,707 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,217,675. This trade represents a 2.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 33,479 shares of company stock valued at $763,922. 29.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 183.3% during the third quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 1,422 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 920 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth $39,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth $56,000. State of Wyoming bought a new position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth $142,000. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 10.6% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 7,762 shares of the company's stock valued at $207,000 after purchasing an additional 745 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.09% of the company's stock.

About Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

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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