Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) Stock Rating Raised to Strong-Buy at Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• Wall Street Zen upgraded Amphastar Pharmaceuticals to “strong-buy” from “buy,” although the broader analyst consensus remains “Reduce,” with six Hold ratings, two Sell ratings, and a $22.50 average price target.
• AMPH opened at $25.43, above the consensus target, with a market capitalization of approximately $1.08 billion. The stock has traded between $16.65 and $29.52 over the past 52 weeks.
• The company exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $0.91 in EPS versus the $0.62 consensus and revenue of $183.9 million versus estimates of $179.92 million; insiders have sold 33,479 shares worth about $763,922 over the past 90 days.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH - Get Free Report) was upgraded by investment analysts at Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday, Wall Street Zen reports.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Bank of America reiterated an "underperform" rating and set a $20.00 price target (down from $25.00) on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, June 29th. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on 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, Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $22.50.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

AMPH stock opened at $25.43 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.88 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79, a quick ratio of 1.71 and a current ratio of 2.40. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $16.65 and a 52-week high of $29.52. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.56 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.79.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.29. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 10.76%.The business had revenue of $183.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $179.92 million. Research analysts expect that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals will post 2.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

In other Amphastar Pharmaceuticals news, CFO William J. Peters sold 8,180 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.48, for a total value of $183,886.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 172,846 shares in the company, valued at $3,885,578.08. This trade represents a 4.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Rong Zhou sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.94, for a total value of $239,400.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 169,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,050,719.82. This represents a 5.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 33,479 shares of company stock worth $763,922. Corporate insiders own 29.60% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AMPH. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its stake in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 122,046 shares of the company's stock worth $2,391,000 after purchasing an additional 1,156 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth approximately $39,000. Vestcor Inc grew its holdings in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 74.6% in the fourth quarter. Vestcor Inc now owns 16,383 shares of the company's stock worth $439,000 after purchasing an additional 7,000 shares during the last quarter. State of Wyoming purchased a new position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth $142,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 1.7% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 553,900 shares of the company's stock worth $10,851,000 after buying an additional 9,200 shares during the period. 65.09% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company that develops, manufactures and markets injectable, inhaled and intranasal products. The company focuses on technically challenging medicines, including generic and proprietary products used in emergency care, respiratory treatment, diabetes management and other therapeutic areas.

Its marketed products include Primatene MIST, an over-the-counter epinephrine inhaler for temporary relief of mild, intermittent asthma symptoms; BAQSIMI, a ready-to-use nasal glucagon product for severe hypoglycemia; glucagon injection; Amphadase, a hyaluronidase product; and enoxaparin, an anticoagulant.

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