Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) Stock Price Down 7.4% – Time to Sell?

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH) was down 7.4% on Tuesday . The company traded as low as $21.30 and last traded at $21.2280. Approximately 377,633 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 21% from the average daily volume of 476,095 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.92.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on AMPH shares. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective (down from $30.00) on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday. Barclays decreased their price objective on Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $23.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $34.00 to $30.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 27th. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, February 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a report on Friday, April 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.43.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.77, a quick ratio of 2.90 and a current ratio of 4.02. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.86 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $935.68 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 0.92.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported $0.73 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by ($0.24). Amphastar Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 17.58% and a net margin of 13.63%.The business had revenue of $183.11 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190.48 million. Analysts forecast that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post 2.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. TD Asset Management Inc grew its holdings in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,963,052 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,571,000 after acquiring an additional 31,160 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,799,685 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,196,000 after acquiring an additional 44,020 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,531,786 shares of the company’s stock worth $41,021,000 after acquiring an additional 31,044 shares during the period. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,394,463 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,344,000 after acquiring an additional 40,536 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 41.6% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,237,284 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,134,000 after acquiring an additional 363,216 shares during the period. 65.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

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.