Bank of America Corp DE Makes New Investment in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $AMPH

Key Points

• Bank of America initiated a position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter, purchasing 136,824 shares valued at approximately $2.76 million. Institutional investors collectively own 65.09% of the company.
• Analysts remain cautious, with six Hold ratings and two Sell ratings producing a consensus “Reduce” rating and an average price target of $22.50. Bank of America maintained its Underperform rating and lowered its target to $20.
• Amphastar reported quarterly EPS of $0.91, surpassing the $0.62 consensus estimate, while revenue of $183.9 million also exceeded expectations. However, insiders sold 33,479 shares worth approximately $763,922 over the past 90 days.

Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new stake in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 136,824 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,761,000. Bank of America Corp DE owned about 0.32% of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at about $4,689,000. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC boosted its position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 54.6% during the first quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 187,348 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,670,000 after purchasing an additional 66,172 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,580,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 12.7% in the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,027,947 shares of the company's stock valued at $39,726,000 after purchasing an additional 228,262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 47.1% during the 1st quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 261,483 shares of the company's stock worth $5,122,000 after purchasing an additional 83,739 shares during the last quarter. 65.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on AMPH shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, September 12th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 7th. Finally, Bank of America reiterated an "underperform" rating and issued a $20.00 target price (down from $25.00) on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $22.50.

Insider Activity

In other Amphastar Pharmaceuticals news, Director Richard Prins sold 7,973 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.30, for a total transaction of $161,851.90. Following the transaction, the director owned 29,625 shares in the company, valued at $601,387.50. This represents a 21.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO William Peters sold 4,139 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total transaction of $103,475.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 168,707 shares in the company, valued at $4,217,675. This represents a 2.39% 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 33,479 shares of company stock valued at $763,922. 29.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ AMPH opened at $26.68 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.28 and a beta of 0.92. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.65 and a 1-year high of $29.52. The business's 50 day moving average is $22.17 and its 200-day moving average is $20.65.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.29. The business had revenue of $183.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $179.92 million. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 14.98% and a net margin of 10.76%. Equities research analysts predict that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post 2.46 earnings per share for the current year.

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 complex and technically challenging medicines, including products for diabetes, emergency medicine, respiratory conditions and other specialty-care applications.

Its marketed products include glucagon for treating severe hypoglycemia, BAQSIMI nasal glucagon, Primatene MIST for temporary relief of mild intermittent asthma symptoms, naloxone products for opioid overdose emergencies, and enoxaparin sodium injection, an anticoagulant.

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