Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) have been given an average rating of “Moderate Buy” by the twenty-two research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have issued a hold recommendation and thirteen have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $32.4211.

APLS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. HC Wainwright boosted their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Roth Mkm began coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, March 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $17.21 on Monday. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $21.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.88. The company has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 132.39 and a beta of 0.26. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $16.10 and a fifty-two week high of $30.48.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CFO Timothy Eugene Sullivan sold 10,287 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total value of $223,947.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 93,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,044,224.77. The trade was a 9.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 7,832 shares of the company’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 $170,502.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 88,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,927,319.87. The trade was a 8.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 115,537 shares of company stock worth $2,486,082 in the last three months. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 206.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 1,373 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 64.1% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after acquiring an additional 857 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 141.2% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,570 shares during the period. Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth approximately $64,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 338.5% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 4,191 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

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.