Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Rating Reiterated by Needham & Company LLC

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $85.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price indicates a potential upside of 70.48% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on APLS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. UBS Group increased their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Wedbush lowered their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $57.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $77.93.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $49.86 on Thursday. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $19.83 and a 52-week high of $94.75. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $58.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 2.50 and a current ratio of 3.10. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.13 and a beta of 0.88.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.73) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.73). Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 178.60% and a negative net margin of 133.34%. The company had revenue of $146.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $143.34 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($1.50) EPS. Apellis Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 545.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 906 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.14, for a total transaction of $58,110.84. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 104,171 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,681,527.94. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 906 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.14, for a total value of $58,110.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 104,171 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,681,527.94. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director A. Sinclair Dunlop sold 18,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.18, for a total value of $1,068,179.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 173,998 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,949,205.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 381,011 shares of company stock valued at $23,463,657 in the last ninety days. 7.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 69.0% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at about $29,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 564.2% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 677 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 29.3% during the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,000 after acquiring an additional 687 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.29% 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, 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).