Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) has received a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the twenty ratings firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Eight 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 company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $45.28.

Several brokerages have commented on APLS. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $44.00 price target on the stock. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, March 3rd.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.10, for a total transaction of $139,781.90. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 138,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,482,123. This represents a 3.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders have sold 6,115 shares of company stock valued at $154,684 over the last ninety days. 6.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. grew its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 21.9% during the first quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. now owns 3,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 573 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. grew its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 14,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $449,000 after purchasing an additional 749 shares in the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 2,707.1% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 786 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 189,477 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,046,000 after purchasing an additional 913 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 357.2% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 918 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:APLS opened at $18.21 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $2.29 billion, a PE ratio of -8.97 and a beta of 0.85. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $16.98 and a fifty-two week high of $49.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 3.73 and a current ratio of 4.36. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $22.49 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.60.

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

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).