Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires 817,652 Shares of Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $AMRX

Key Points

• Principal Financial Group dramatically increased its stake in Amneal Pharmaceuticals, buying 817,652 additional shares in Q1 and lifting its holdings to 972,529 shares worth about $12.1 million.
• Several other institutional investors also expanded their positions, and institutions now own 31.82% of Amneal’s stock, signaling continued professional interest in the company.
• Analysts remain generally constructive on the stock: UBS and Barclays raised price targets, and the consensus rating is Moderate Buy with an average target price of $16.60.

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMRX - Free Report) by 527.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 972,529 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 817,652 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.31% of Amneal Pharmaceuticals worth $12,089,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rubric Capital Management LP increased its position in Amneal Pharmaceuticals by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Rubric Capital Management LP now owns 12,334,941 shares of the company's stock worth $123,473,000 after purchasing an additional 624,609 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Amneal Pharmaceuticals by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,609,040 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,681,000 after purchasing an additional 177,906 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley boosted its position in Amneal Pharmaceuticals by 37.5% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,818,099 shares of the company's stock valued at $60,708,000 after buying an additional 1,315,018 shares in the last quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Amneal Pharmaceuticals by 14.7% in the second quarter. Nantahala Capital Management LLC now owns 4,367,438 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,333,000 after buying an additional 558,877 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Amneal Pharmaceuticals by 3.4% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,110,410 shares of the company's stock worth $51,791,000 after buying an additional 136,662 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 31.82% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on AMRX. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Amneal Pharmaceuticals from $19.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 15th. Barclays raised their price objective on Amneal Pharmaceuticals from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Zacks Research lowered Amneal Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Weiss Ratings cut Amneal Pharmaceuticals from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Amneal Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Sunday, July 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $16.60.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Deborah M. Autor sold 34,819 shares of Amneal Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.94, for a total value of $450,557.86. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 93,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,211,960.40. The trade was a 27.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 17.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Amneal Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of Amneal Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $17.92 on Friday. Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $7.66 and a twelve month high of $18.39. The stock has a market cap of $5.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.16 and a beta of 1.26. The company's fifty day moving average is $15.59 and its 200 day moving average is $14.07.

Amneal Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMRX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 7th. The company reported $0.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $722.52 million during the quarter. Amneal Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 313.96% and a net margin of 4.01%. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post 0.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Amneal Pharmaceuticals

Amneal Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a publicly traded integrated healthcare company specializing in the development, manufacturing and distribution of generic and specialty pharmaceutical products. The company’s portfolio includes oral solids, injectables, transdermals and biosimilars, serving a broad range of therapeutic areas such as cardiovascular, neuroscience, oncology and women’s health. Alongside its generic offerings, Amneal has built a branded portfolio through strategic acquisitions and internal development, positioning itself across both high-volume generics and higher-value specialty treatments.

Since its founding in 2002 by brothers Chirag and Chintu Modgil, Amneal has pursued growth through organic investment in research and development as well as targeted M&A.

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