Wedbush Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Stock Price

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) had its price objective lowered by research analysts at Wedbush from $30.00 to $29.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Wedbush’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 15.31% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on APLS. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $36.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $92.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $61.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $63.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apellis Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.00.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 3.3 %

Shares of APLS opened at $25.15 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $29.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.48. 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 company has a market cap of $3.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.39 and a beta of 0.96. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $24.33 and a 52-week high of $66.00.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 13,551 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.43, for a total value of $412,356.93. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 418,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,735,533.17. This trade represents a 3.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Caroline Baumal sold 2,816 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.81, for a total value of $95,208.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 55,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,878,483.60. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 60,365 shares of company stock valued at $1,810,479. 6.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in APLS. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 2,707.1% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 786 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares during the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 357.2% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 918 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP bought a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth about $56,000. Institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

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).