Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Lowered to Hold Rating by Citigroup

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) was downgraded by investment analysts at Citigroup from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Mizuho upped their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $41.00 price objective (down from $48.00) on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $19.00 price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC downgraded shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.00.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.4%

Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $40.39 on Tuesday. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $16.10 and a twelve month high of $40.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 2.70 and a current ratio of 3.14. The firm has a market cap of $5.16 billion, a PE ratio of 310.72 and a beta of 0.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $21.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.71.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.39) by $0.86. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 2.23% and a return on equity of 8.20%. The business had revenue of $199.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $199.28 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.29) earnings per share. Apellis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, insider Nur Nicholson sold 7,725 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total value of $168,173.25. Following the sale, the insider owned 71,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,548,238.86. This trade represents a 9.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Cedric Francois sold 27,192 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total transaction of $591,969.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 286,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,227,199.65. This trade represents a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 115,537 shares of company stock valued at $2,486,082. 6.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 11,883 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 468 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System lifted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 96,125 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,415,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank boosted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 6.9% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 8,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $196,000 after buying an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. Xponance LLC increased its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Xponance LLC now owns 18,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $456,000 after buying an additional 681 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 64.1% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 857 shares in the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Apellis Pharmaceuticals News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apellis Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Biogen agreed to acquire Apellis for about $5.6 billion, offering $41.00/share in cash plus a non-transferable CVR tied to SYFOVRE sales — this is the main driver of the large share rally. Biogen to buy Apellis for $5.6B (Reuters)
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage updates pushed some price targets up to the deal level (Barclays raised its PT to $41 from $24), which supports the takeover valuation. Barclays raises PT to $41 (Benzinga)
• Neutral Sentiment: Several firms reiterated neutral/market‑perform ratings with price targets clustered near $41, reflecting the deal price rather than new upside from standalone operations. Analyst reaffirms (Benzinga)
• Neutral Sentiment: APLS saw extremely high intraday volume and a multi‑day surge after the deal announcement; such spikes often normalize as the market digests deal terms and regulatory/closing risk. APLS moves 135% higher (Zacks)
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple shareholder law firms have opened investigations and flagged potential challenges to the adequacy of the $41 per‑share price and the sale process — this creates legal/closing risk and could pressure sentiment. M&A class action investigation (PR Newswire)
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrades followed the deal news: Needham cut APLS from Buy to Hold and JP Morgan issued a downgrade in subsequent coverage — these moves can weigh on near‑term trading, especially if analysts see limited upside beyond the deal price. Needham downgrades to Hold (American Banking News) JP Morgan downgrades (MSN)

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc, traded as NASDAQ:APLS, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapies targeting the complement cascade for the treatment of rare and debilitating diseases. The company’s research and development efforts center on modulating complement proteins to address a range of ophthalmologic, hematologic and renal conditions. Apellis leverages its proprietary compstatin technology platform to design targeted inhibitors intended to improve patient outcomes and quality of life.

The company’s lead marketed product, Syfovre (pegcetacoplan), is an intravitreal complement C3 inhibitor approved for geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration, with ongoing investigations in other retinal disorders.