Piper Sandler Downgrades Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) to Neutral

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) was downgraded by stock analysts at Piper Sandler from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. They currently have a $36.00 target price on the stock, down from their previous target price of $66.00. Piper Sandler’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 9.79% from the company’s previous close.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on AMPH. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $55.00 price target on the stock. StockNews.com lowered Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Amphastar Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $50.33.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:AMPH opened at $32.79 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82, a current ratio of 3.43 and a quick ratio of 2.61. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $32.25 and a one year high of $56.45. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $38.64 and a 200 day moving average price of $43.81. The stock has a market cap of $1.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 10.93, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.81.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Amphastar Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Rong Zhou sold 6,893 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.88, for a total value of $336,929.84. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 118,388 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,786,805.44. This trade represents a 5.50 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard K. Prins sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.80, for a total transaction of $244,000.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 31,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,535,784.80. The trade was a 13.71 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 28,893 shares of company stock worth $1,329,570 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 27.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 10.9% during the third quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 218,531 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,605,000 after buying an additional 21,530 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $11,070,000. Wellington Management Group LLP bought a new stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth $957,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 51,977.4% during the fourth quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,350,368 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,139,000 after purchasing an additional 1,347,775 shares during the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new stake in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at $674,000. 65.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a bio-pharmaceutical company, develops, manufactures, markets, and sells generic and proprietary injectable, inhalation, and intranasal products in the United States, China, and France. It offers BAQSIMI, a nasal spray for the treatment of severe hypoglycemia; Primatene Mist, an over-the-counter epinephrine inhalation product for the temporary relief of mild symptoms of intermittent asthma; Enoxaparin, to prevent and treat deep vein thrombosis; REXTOVY and Naloxone for opioid overdose; Glucagon for injection emergency kit; and Cortrosyn, for use as a diagnostic agent in the screening of patients with adrenocortical insufficiency.