Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Rating Lowered to Hold at Cantor Fitzgerald

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) was downgraded by investment analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC cut Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $41.00 target price (down from $44.00) on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial cut Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Wedbush reduced their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apellis Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.00.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.4%

Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $40.39 on Tuesday. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $16.10 and a fifty-two week 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $21.50 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.71. The stock has a market cap of $5.16 billion, a PE ratio of 310.72 and a beta of 0.26.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Timothy Eugene Sullivan sold 10,287 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total value of $223,947.99. Following 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Cedric Francois sold 27,192 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 286,045 shares in the company, valued at $6,227,199.65. The trade was a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 115,537 shares of company stock valued at $2,486,082. 6.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of APLS. Wedmont Private Capital increased its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% during 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 boosted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 96,125 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,415,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank grew its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 8,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. Xponance LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Xponance LLC now owns 18,164 shares of the company’s stock worth $456,000 after purchasing an additional 681 shares during the period. Finally, Allworth Financial LP increased its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 857 shares during the period. 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.