Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Price Target Lowered to $36.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) had its target price trimmed by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $40.00 to $36.00 in a research report report published on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the stock. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $26.00 to $18.00 in a report on Friday, September 26th. Raymond James Financial lowered their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.06.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $19.95 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $2.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 64.36 and a beta of 0.70. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $25.06 and its 200 day moving average is $21.76. The company has a quick ratio of 3.16, a current ratio of 3.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $16.10 and a 52-week high of $35.72.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.64. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 4.43% and a return on equity of 18.94%. The company had revenue of $458.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $364.58 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.46) earnings per share. Apellis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 133.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.22, for a total value of $126,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 113,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,868,270.60. This trade represents a 4.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director A. Sinclair Dunlop sold 31,092 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.72, for a total transaction of $737,502.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,837 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $91,013.64. The trade was a 89.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 312,921 shares of company stock valued at $8,490,866. Company insiders own 6.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of APLS. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 11,373.8% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,704,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,821,000 after buying an additional 2,681,263 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,977,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 119.6% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,077,419 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,173,000 after buying an additional 2,220,977 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 386.7% during the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,604,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,585,000 after buying an additional 1,274,523 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 2,879.3% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,048,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,935,000 after buying an additional 1,013,500 shares during the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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).