Jefferies Financial Group Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS)

Jefferies Financial Group reissued their buy rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) in a research report released on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $80.00 price target on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on APLS. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $77.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, July 17th. Needham & Company LLC restated a buy rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, May 31st. They issued a neutral rating and a $46.00 target price for the company. Wedbush lowered their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $57.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a buy rating and issued a $92.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, May 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $73.50.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:APLS opened at $36.56 on Wednesday. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $19.83 and a 52 week high of $73.80. The company’s 50 day moving average is $39.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $50.98. The company has a current ratio of 3.77, a quick ratio of 3.02 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The company has a market cap of $4.44 billion, a PE ratio of -10.57 and a beta of 0.88.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.54) EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.54). Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 79.67% and a negative return on equity of 160.77%. The company had revenue of $172.33 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $163.37 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($1.56) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 284.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, Director A. Sinclair Dunlop sold 37,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.24, for a total transaction of $1,451,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 136,998 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,375,801.52. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other news, insider Pascal Deschatelets sold 78,907 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.35, for a total value of $3,341,711.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,115,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,261,880.05. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director A. Sinclair Dunlop sold 37,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.24, for a total transaction of $1,451,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 136,998 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,375,801.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 6.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Fiera Capital Corp increased its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 47.7% in the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 1,401,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,750,000 after purchasing an additional 452,753 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 123,565 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,740,000 after purchasing an additional 2,644 shares in the last quarter. nVerses Capital LLC increased its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 300.0% during the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,000 after acquiring an additional 2,100 shares in the last quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 23.3% during the 2nd quarter. Peregrine Capital Management LLC now owns 114,279 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,384,000 after acquiring an additional 21,619 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Panagora Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $907,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

About Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of therapeutic compounds through the inhibition of the complement system for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. It offers EMPAVELI for the treatment of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, C3 glomerulopathy and immune complex membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis, and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation-associated thrombotic microangiopathy; and SYFOVRE for treating geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration and geographic atrophy (GA).