Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) Shares Up 5.7% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Amphastar shares rose 5.7% to about $27.61 in mid-day trading, although volume was 91% below the average daily level.
• The company beat quarterly expectations, reporting $0.91 in EPS versus the $0.62 consensus and revenue of $183.9 million versus $179.9 million expected.
• Analysts remain cautious: the stock has a consensus “Reduce” rating and a $22.50 price target, while insiders sold 33,479 shares worth approximately $763,922 over the past 90 days.

Shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH - Get Free Report) traded up 5.7% during mid-day trading on Monday. The company traded as high as $26.95 and last traded at $27.6140. Approximately 45,837 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 517,218 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.13.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AMPH shares. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Saturday, September 12th. Barclays increased their price objective on Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Bank of America restated an "underperform" rating and set a $20.00 target price (down from $25.00) on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $22.50.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

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 50-day moving average price of $21.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $20.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.03 and a beta of 0.92.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $179.92 million. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post 2.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Amphastar Pharmaceuticals news, Director Richard K. Prins sold 7,973 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.30, for a total value of $161,851.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 29,625 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $601,387.50. This represents a 21.21% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP Rong Zhou sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the executive vice president owned 169,203 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,050,719.82. This trade represents a 5.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 33,479 shares of company stock valued at $763,922 in the last ninety days. 29.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Engineers Gate Manager LP acquired a new stake in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth $609,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its stake in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 178.0% in the second quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 78,795 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,590,000 after acquiring an additional 50,450 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at about $3,286,000. Bank of America Corp DE bought a new stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth about $2,761,000. Finally, Man Group plc bought a new stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth about $350,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.09% of the company's stock.

About Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

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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