The Goldman Sachs Group Cuts Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Price Target to $32.00

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) had its target price cut by The Goldman Sachs Group from $36.00 to $32.00 in a research note released on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on APLS. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $26.00 price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $61.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $43.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of 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 analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.53.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 3.8 %

Shares of APLS stock opened at $26.00 on Monday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $29.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $31.30. The company has a current ratio of 4.36, a quick ratio of 3.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. The stock has a market cap of $3.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.81 and a beta of 0.93. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $23.77 and a twelve month high of $64.33.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.29) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.37) by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $212.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $197.92 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 34.97% and a negative return on equity of 103.11%. The company’s revenue was up 45.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.73) EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 4,965 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.70, for a total transaction of $142,495.50. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 107,756 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,092,597.20. This represents a 4.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Cedric Francois sold 2,824 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.52, for a total transaction of $83,364.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 415,695 shares in the company, valued at $12,271,316.40. The trade was a 0.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 60,365 shares of company stock worth $1,810,479. Company insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 3,791.4% in the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 997,053 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,816,000 after purchasing an additional 971,431 shares in the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $83,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 212,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,793,000 after purchasing an additional 21,822 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP boosted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 189,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,046,000 after purchasing an additional 913 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vident Advisory LLC acquired a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $465,000. 96.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).