Royal Bank of Canada Reiterates Sector Perform Rating for Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS)

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS)‘s stock had its “sector perform” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at Royal Bank of Canada in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $26.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s target price indicates a potential downside of 13.81% from the stock’s current price.

APLS has been the topic of several other research reports. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $85.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. William Blair started coverage on Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler lowered their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $43.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.71.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of APLS stock traded up $0.23 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $30.17. 413,834 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,182,471. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $24.34 and a 1 year high of $71.90. The company’s 50 day moving average is $31.89 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.31. The company has a current ratio of 4.36, a quick ratio of 3.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. The firm has a market cap of $3.75 billion, a PE ratio of -14.86 and a beta of 0.94.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.46) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.32) by ($0.14). Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 103.11% and a negative net margin of 34.97%. The firm had revenue of $196.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $200.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($1.17) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 78.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.71 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Caroline Baumal sold 2,816 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.81, for a total transaction of $95,208.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 55,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,878,483.60. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Timothy Eugene Sullivan sold 2,170 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.70, for a total transaction of $62,279.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,100 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,528,470. The trade was a 2.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,308 shares of company stock valued at $511,406 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 23.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,884,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,036,000 after buying an additional 735,160 shares during the period. Braidwell LP lifted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 410.8% during the third quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 3,125,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,130,000 after purchasing an additional 2,513,383 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 191.9% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,144,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,845,000 after purchasing an additional 1,409,707 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,810,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,229,000 after purchasing an additional 22,609 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 956,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,581,000 after purchasing an additional 9,328 shares during the period. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).