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

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMPH) saw a significant increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,820,000 shares, an increase of 10.3% from the December 31st total of 4,370,000 shares. Approximately 13.5% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 476,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 10.1 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Richard K. Prins sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $43.77, for a total transaction of $437,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 30,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,333,715.67. This represents a 24.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO William J. Peters sold 7,426 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $52.05, for a total transaction of $386,523.30. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 94,103 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,898,061.15. This represents a 7.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 41,533 shares of company stock valued at $1,987,482 over the last quarter. 27.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in AMPH. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 70.0% during the 3rd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 663 shares of the company’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 273 shares during the period. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 53.4% during the 3rd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 1,144 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after buying an additional 398 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $78,000. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 43.1% during the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,159 shares of the company’s stock worth $80,000 after buying an additional 650 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Amphastar Pharmaceuticals by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 1,761 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,000 after buying an additional 301 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.09% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Amphastar Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 4.8 %

NASDAQ:AMPH traded down $1.68 on Monday, reaching $33.19. 196,719 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 554,587. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.81. The company’s 50 day moving average is $39.34 and its 200-day moving average is $43.97. The company has a current ratio of 3.43, a quick ratio of 2.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.82. Amphastar Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $33.15 and a 1-year high of $56.45.

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.