Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Trading Up 7.8% – Still a Buy?

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)’s share price was up 7.8% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $25.98 and last traded at $25.8130. Approximately 983,852 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 52% from the average daily volume of 2,039,147 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.94.

Analyst Ratings Changes

APLS has been the topic of several research reports. Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $32.00 price target on the stock. HC Wainwright dropped their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $57.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 31st. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.94.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 4.0%

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.24. The company has a current ratio of 3.54, a quick ratio of 3.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The company has a market cap of $3.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 88.07 and a beta of 0.31.

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

Insider Transactions at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, CFO Timothy Eugene Sullivan sold 10,000 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.03, for a total transaction of $280,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 110,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,109,536.08. The trade was a 8.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.49, for a total value of $122,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 103,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,540,347.70. The trade was a 4.60% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $629,150 over the last ninety days. 6.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 207.4% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 29,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $667,000 after buying an additional 19,944 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 26.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 307,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,730,000 after acquiring an additional 64,742 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP boosted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 15.5% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 218,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,786,000 after acquiring an additional 29,373 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 222,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,869,000 after acquiring an additional 9,747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Focus Partners Wealth grew its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 118.4% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 21,883 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,000 after purchasing an additional 11,862 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc, traded as NASDAQ:APLS, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapies targeting the complement cascade for the treatment of rare and debilitating diseases. The company’s research and development efforts center on modulating complement proteins to address a range of ophthalmologic, hematologic and renal conditions. Apellis leverages its proprietary compstatin technology platform to design targeted inhibitors intended to improve patient outcomes and quality of life.

The company’s lead marketed product, Syfovre (pegcetacoplan), is an intravitreal complement C3 inhibitor approved for geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration, with ongoing investigations in other retinal disorders.