Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Shares Gap Up – What’s Next?

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)’s share price gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $27.44, but opened at $28.58. Apellis Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $27.81, with a volume of 243,027 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APLS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, November 21st. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $92.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Scotiabank cut their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.65.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $31.87 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $33.65. The company has a market capitalization of $3.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.46 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 3.73 and a current ratio of 4.36.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.46) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.32) by ($0.14). Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 34.97% and a negative return on equity of 103.11%. The firm had revenue of $196.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $200.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.17) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 78.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Caroline Baumal sold 2,816 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.81, for a total transaction of $95,208.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 55,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,878,483.60. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APLS. Wolverine Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth approximately $56,000. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 34.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 679 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,000 after buying an additional 781 shares in the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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).