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

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nineteen brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $45.53.

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Wedbush decreased their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd.

Insider Activity at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CAO James George Chopas sold 1,096 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.43, for a total transaction of $33,351.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now owns 48,138 shares in the company, valued at $1,464,839.34. This trade represents a 2.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Caroline Baumal sold 2,816 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction 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 owns 55,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,878,483.60. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 65,934 shares of company stock valued at $1,950,261 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of APLS. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 2,707.1% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 786 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 357.2% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 918 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $56,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $25.14 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.73, a current ratio of 4.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. The company has a market capitalization of $3.16 billion, a PE ratio of -12.38 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.91. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $23.77 and a twelve month high of $63.07.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.29) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.37) by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $212.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.92 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 34.97% and a negative return on equity of 103.11%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 45.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.73) earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 EPS for the current year.

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).