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

Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) have been given a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eleven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $77.93.

Several research firms have weighed in on APLS. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $70.00 to $67.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 15th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Bank of America raised Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $85.00 in a research report on Tuesday, December 5th.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ APLS opened at $58.49 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 3.10 and a quick ratio of 2.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.05 billion, a PE ratio of -13.06 and a beta of 0.90. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $19.83 and a 1 year high of $94.75. The business’s 50-day moving average is $63.56 and its 200 day moving average is $55.81.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.73) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.73). The business had revenue of $146.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $143.34 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 178.60% and a negative net margin of 133.34%. The business’s revenue was up 545.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.50) EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jeffrey Eisele sold 438 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.81, for a total transaction of $29,262.78. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 72,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,853,746.50. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Timothy Eugene Sullivan sold 2,235 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.81, for a total transaction of $149,320.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 99,226 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,629,289.06. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeffrey Eisele sold 438 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.81, for a total transaction of $29,262.78. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 72,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,853,746.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 351,923 shares of company stock valued at $22,361,395 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 7.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wynnefield Capital Inc. bought a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth $380,000. General American Investors Co. Inc. bought a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth $1,712,000. Profund Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 114.5% in the 3rd quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 35,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,337,000 after buying an additional 18,766 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 6.1% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 879,357 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,451,000 after buying an additional 50,835 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 105.2% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,023,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,934,000 after buying an additional 524,797 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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).