Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH) Short Interest Up 6.1% in December

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,370,000 shares, a growth of 6.1% from the November 30th total of 4,120,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 424,600 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 10.3 days. Currently, 12.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of AMPH stock opened at $36.36 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $44.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.32. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $36.07 and a 12 month high of $65.92. The company has a current ratio of 3.43, a quick ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.12, a PEG ratio of 0.87 and a beta of 0.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Rong Zhou sold 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.42, for a total transaction of $310,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 118,469 shares in the company, valued at $5,262,392.98. This represents a 5.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Richard K. Prins sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.80, for a total value of $244,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 31,471 shares in the company, valued at $1,535,784.80. This trade represents a 13.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 41,533 shares of company stock worth $1,987,482 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 27.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMPH. TD Asset Management Inc grew its stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 67.4% in the second quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,691,569 shares of the company’s stock worth $67,663,000 after purchasing an additional 680,976 shares during the last quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. lifted its holdings in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 35.1% during the 2nd quarter. Epoch Investment Partners Inc. now owns 1,078,852 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,154,000 after buying an additional 280,390 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 920,363 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,674,000 after buying an additional 14,015 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 19.7% in the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 740,408 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,616,000 after buying an additional 121,764 shares during the period. Finally, Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 84.6% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 738,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,550,000 after buying an additional 338,653 shares during the period. 65.09% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on AMPH. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 1st. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, November 22nd. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $55.00 target price on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $60.33.

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.