Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) General Counsel David Watson Sells 2,475 Shares

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) General Counsel David Watson sold 2,475 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.79, for a total transaction of $48,980.25. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 96,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,907,023.77. The trade was a 2.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ APLS opened at $20.95 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 67.58 and a beta of 0.31. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.10 and a twelve month high of $31.17. The company has a quick ratio of 3.10, a current ratio of 3.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The company has a 50 day moving average of $22.95 and a 200 day moving average of $23.50.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.64. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 18.94% and a net margin of 4.43%.The business had revenue of $458.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $364.58 million. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.46) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 133.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Key Apellis Pharmaceuticals News

Here are the key news stories impacting Apellis Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BofA upgraded APLS from Neutral to Buy, citing a stronger-than-expected launch trajectory for its newly approved kidney-disease therapy and assigning a $28 price target, which signals meaningful upside from current levels. Apellis upgraded at BofA on launch trajectory for kidney disease therapy
• Positive Sentiment: An analyst piece highlights early uptake of Empaveli (Apellis’s newly approved rare-kidney-disease treatment) and argues current Apellis valuation understates Empaveli’s revenue potential — a narrative that supports a re-rating if commercial momentum continues. Apellis Valuation Ignores Empaveli Potential, Says Analyst
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo trimmed its price target from $29 to $26 but maintained an Overweight rating — a mixed signal that lowers upside expectations but keeps institutional support. Wells Fargo lowers price target on Apellis
• Neutral Sentiment: RBC Capital reiterated a Hold on APLS, which is a neutral institutional stance and may limit upside from investors seeking stronger analyst conviction. RBC Capital Sticks to Its Hold Rating for Apellis Pharmaceuticals (APLS)
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple senior insiders (including CEO Cedric Francois, CFO Timothy Sullivan, General Counsel David Watson and other officers) sold shares on Jan. 20 — a cluster of Form 4 filings that can weigh on sentiment even if transactions are routine diversification. See CEO filing here for details. CEO Cedric Francois Form 4

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 11,373.8% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,704,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,821,000 after acquiring an additional 2,681,263 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at $40,977,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 46.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,976,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,452,000 after purchasing an additional 1,898,995 shares during the period. Polar Capital Holdings Plc grew its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 96.0% during the third quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 2,650,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,975,000 after purchasing an additional 1,298,055 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 386.7% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

APLS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.53.

About Apellis Pharmaceuticals

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.