Polaris Capital Management LLC Sells 22,000 Shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $AMPH

Polaris Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH) by 62.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,100 shares of the company’s stock after selling 22,000 shares during the quarter. Polaris Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals were worth $349,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of AMPH. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 5.2% during the 2nd quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 9,440 shares of the company’s stock worth $217,000 after acquiring an additional 465 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 2.8% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 22,489 shares of the company’s stock worth $652,000 after purchasing an additional 613 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC increased its holdings in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 219.0% during the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 1,024 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 703 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 356.0% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 944 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 737 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 62.2% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,162 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 829 shares in the last quarter. 65.09% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on AMPH shares. Barclays began coverage on Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $30.00 target price on the stock. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Zacks Research cut Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.00.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 6.0%

NASDAQ AMPH opened at $29.40 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.54 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a current ratio of 3.12. The company has a market capitalization of $1.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.91 and a beta of 0.89. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a one year low of $20.39 and a one year high of $39.01.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.83 by $0.10. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 19.70% and a net margin of 15.43%.The company had revenue of $191.84 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $186.90 million. Equities analysts forecast that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post 3.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

In other news, EVP Rong Zhou sold 9,787 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.20, for a total value of $256,419.40. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 138,043 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,616,726.60. This represents a 6.62% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard K. Prins sold 4,179 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.10, for a total transaction of $113,250.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 35,183 shares in the company, valued at $953,459.30. The trade was a 10.62% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 35,308 shares of company stock worth $931,637 over the last quarter. Insiders own 27.10% of the company’s stock.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Company 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.