Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) Shares Cross Above 50-Day Moving Average – Here’s Why

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH) crossed above its fifty day moving average during trading on Wednesday . The stock has a fifty day moving average of $26.79 and traded as high as $29.37. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $28.61, with a volume of 378,851 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $1.31 billion, a PE ratio of 12.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.00 and a beta of 0.88. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $26.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.78, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a current ratio of 3.12.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported $0.93 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 analyst estimates of $186.90 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post 3.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Amphastar Pharmaceuticals news, Director Floyd F. Petersen sold 2,426 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.92, for a total transaction of $62,881.92. Following the transaction, the director owned 71,368 shares in the company, valued at $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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard K. Prins sold 4,179 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.10, for a total value of $113,250.90. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 35,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $953,459.30. This trade represents a 10.62% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 34,808 shares of company stock valued at $919,002. Company insiders own 27.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 7.9% during the third quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,755,665 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,789,000 after purchasing an additional 128,781 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 973,237 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,348,000 after buying an additional 18,161 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 874,068 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,294,000 after buying an additional 25,383 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 12.7% in the 3rd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 697,765 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,595,000 after buying an additional 78,781 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Qube Research & Technologies Ltd grew its stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 81.3% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 469,492 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,780,000 after acquiring an additional 210,511 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.09% 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.