Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH - Get Free Report) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 4,120,000 shares, a drop of 10.4% from the January 15th total of 4,600,000 shares. Approximately 11.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 545,700 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 7.5 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Amphastar Pharmaceuticals news, EVP Rong Zhou sold 7,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.42, for a total value of $310,940.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 118,469 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,262,392.98. This trade represents a 5.58 % decrease in their position. 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 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $43.77, for a total value of $437,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 30,471 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,333,715.67. The trade was a 24.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 27.10% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of AMPH. Pacer Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 51,977.4% in the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 1,350,368 shares of the company's stock valued at $50,139,000 after buying an additional 1,347,775 shares during the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp bought a new position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at $26,189,000. Boston Partners bought a new position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $15,778,000. Wealthfront Advisers LLC bought a new position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $9,268,000. Finally, Systematic Financial Management LP bought a new position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $9,147,000. 65.09% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

AMPH stock traded up $0.09 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $31.30. 550,079 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 536,287. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $35.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $43.00. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $30.34 and a 1-year high of $56.38. The company has a market cap of $1.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.43, a PEG ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a quick ratio of 2.61, a current ratio of 3.43 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on AMPH shares. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on Amphastar Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, November 22nd. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $55.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com cut Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler cut Amphastar Pharmaceuticals from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $66.00 to $36.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $50.33.

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.