Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Buys Shares of 129,339 Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $AMPH

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC purchased a new position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 129,339 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,447,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Millennium Management LLC grew its position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 238.5% in the first quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 868,551 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,179,000 after acquiring an additional 611,995 shares in the last quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd lifted its stake in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 81.3% during the second quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 469,492 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,780,000 after purchasing an additional 210,511 shares during the last quarter. CX Institutional lifted its stake in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 220.5% during the second quarter. CX Institutional now owns 263,283 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,045,000 after purchasing an additional 181,136 shares during the last quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 64.2% in the 2nd quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 266,306 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,114,000 after purchasing an additional 104,168 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bridgeway Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,954,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.09% of the company’s stock.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.2%

Shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $27.12 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.39 and a 52-week high of $39.01. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $25.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.00, a P/E/G ratio of 7.60 and a beta of 0.91.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

AMPH has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays initiated coverage on Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $30.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, November 7th. Zacks Research cut shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 14th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c-)” rating on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, December 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $31.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Rong Zhou sold 9,787 shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 17th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,616,726.60. This trade represents a 6.62% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Floyd F. Petersen sold 2,426 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.92, for a total value of $62,881.92. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 71,368 shares in the company, valued at $1,849,858.56. This trade represents a 3.29% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 35,808 shares of company stock valued at $945,237 over the last ninety days. 27.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.