Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH) Short Interest Up 10.4% in June

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of June. As of June 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,150,000 shares, a growth of 10.4% from the May 31st total of 3,760,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 341,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 12.1 days. Approximately 11.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

AMPH opened at $38.56 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 2.18 and a quick ratio of 1.72. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $41.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $47.42. The firm has a market cap of $1.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 13.34, a PEG ratio of 0.82 and a beta of 0.80. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $37.30 and a 1 year high of $67.66.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:AMPH) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 8th. The company reported $0.93 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.20. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 22.88% and a return on equity of 29.17%. The firm had revenue of $171.84 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $171.13 million. As a group, analysts predict that Amphastar Pharmaceuticals will post 3.6 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO William J. Peters sold 3,596 shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.93, for a total transaction of $147,184.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 94,103 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,851,635.79. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Floyd F. Petersen sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.40, for a total value of $124,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 78,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,246,132.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO William J. Peters sold 3,596 shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $40.93, for a total value of $147,184.28. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 94,103 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,851,635.79. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 7,596 shares of company stock worth $313,544 in the last ninety days. 27.10% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 379,480 shares of the company’s stock worth $23,471,000 after acquiring an additional 27,102 shares during the period. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 348.7% during the 4th quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 592,530 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,648,000 after purchasing an additional 460,473 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 449.0% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 793,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $49,082,000 after buying an additional 649,001 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 870.9% in the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 237,474 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,688,000 after buying an additional 213,014 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Shaker Investments LLC OH lifted its holdings in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 136.0% in the fourth quarter. Shaker Investments LLC OH now owns 49,078 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,035,000 after buying an additional 28,283 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on AMPH shares. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $71.00 price objective on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, June 27th. StockNews.com raised shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, May 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, May 22nd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Amphastar Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.00.

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.