Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) Shares Cross Above Fifty Day Moving Average – What’s Next?

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH) passed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $23.97 and traded as high as $26.61. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $25.94, with a volume of 360,167 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on AMPH. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a “sell (d+)” rating to a “hold (c-)” rating in a research report on Friday, October 16th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $21.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 7th. Bank of America reissued an “underperform” rating and issued a $20.00 price target (down from $25.00) on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Barclays boosted 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 report on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Amphastar Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $22.50.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.44. The firm has a market cap of $1.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.48, a P/E/G ratio of 5.05 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.71, a current ratio of 2.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.79.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 6th. The company reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 10.76% and a return on equity of 14.98%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post 2.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CFO William J. Peters sold 4,139 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.00, for a total value of $103,475.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, EVP Rong Zhou sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $23.94, for a total value of $239,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 169,203 shares of the company’s stock, 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 have sold 33,479 shares of company stock worth $763,922. 29.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position 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 worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 920 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. State of Wyoming bought a new stake in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at $142,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at approximately $232,000. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at approximately $288,000. 65.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.