Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Trading Up 3.9%

Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) were up 3.9% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $46.37 and last traded at $46.18. Approximately 1,177,061 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 57% from the average daily volume of 2,755,496 shares. The stock had previously closed at $44.44.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on APLS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $72.00 to $60.00 in a report on Thursday, August 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $60.00 price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, August 30th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $64.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 23rd. Raymond James dropped their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $156.00 to $89.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $34.00 to $64.00 in a research report on Friday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apellis Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.13.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 4.52, a current ratio of 5.11 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $40.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $66.75.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 31st. The company reported ($1.02) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.35) by $0.33. The company had revenue of $95.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $70.38 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 212.82% and a negative net margin of 356.02%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 482.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.46) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -4.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director Alec Machiels sold 1,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.41, for a total value of $110,512.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 267,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,662,140.81. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Alec Machiels sold 1,250 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.41, for a total value of $110,512.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 267,641 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,662,140.81. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 8,510 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.98, for a total value of $765,729.80. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 85,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,716,054.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 204,340 shares of company stock valued at $9,665,314. 7.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APLS. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 66.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,590,040 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,760,000 after purchasing an additional 1,840,498 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $54,164,000. FMR LLC boosted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 45.6% during the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,125,437 shares of the company’s stock worth $140,194,000 after purchasing an additional 665,274 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 8.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 8,569,170 shares of the company’s stock valued at $435,400,000 after acquiring an additional 652,071 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 20.3% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,496,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $158,131,000 after acquiring an additional 590,469 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 90.43% of the company’s stock.

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, cold agglutinin disease, C3 glomerulopathy and immune complex membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation-associated thrombotic microangiopathy; and SYFOVRE for treating geographic atrophy (GA).