Royce & Associates LP Boosts Stock Holdings in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $AMPH

Royce & Associates LP raised its stake in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH) by 29.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 366,322 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 83,135 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals were worth $9,762,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 1.9% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 973,237 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,348,000 after purchasing an additional 18,161 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its holdings in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 81.3% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 469,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,780,000 after buying an additional 210,511 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 7.7% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 386,971 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,885,000 after acquiring an additional 27,828 shares during the last quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP raised its holdings in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 10.0% during the 2nd quarter. Systematic Financial Management LP now owns 359,307 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,250,000 after acquiring an additional 32,761 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 64.2% during the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 266,306 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,114,000 after acquiring an additional 104,168 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.09% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Zacks Research cut shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Barclays started coverage on Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $30.00 price objective on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.50.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

AMPH stock opened at $19.83 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $899.69 million, a PE ratio of 9.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.54 and a beta of 0.93. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $19.81 and a 12 month high of $31.26. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $26.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.83. The company has a current ratio of 4.02, a quick ratio of 2.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.97 by ($0.24). The firm had revenue of $183.11 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $190.48 million. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 17.58% and a net margin of 13.63%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Floyd F. Petersen sold 2,426 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.92, for a total transaction of $62,881.92. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 71,368 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,849,858.56. The trade was a 3.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, EVP Rong Zhou sold 9,787 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.20, for a total transaction of $256,419.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 138,043 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,616,726.60. The trade was a 6.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 13,950 shares of company stock valued at $363,925. 27.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Profile

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a specialty pharmaceutical company headquartered in Rancho Cucamonga, California. Founded in 2004, Amphastar focuses on the development, manufacturing and commercialization of injectable and inhalation products. The company’s manufacturing facilities in California produce both generic and proprietary formulations designed to address urgent and chronic medical conditions.

Amphastar’s portfolio includes a range of injectable generics such as epinephrine, naloxone and lidocaine, serving hospital, emergency medical and retail pharmacy channels.