Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Trading Up 6.6% – Here’s What Happened

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) was up 6.6% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $22.36 and last traded at $23.31. Approximately 417,900 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 80% from the average daily volume of 2,047,019 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.87.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

APLS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Wedbush decreased their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apellis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.53.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.35 and a beta of 0.92. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $26.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $29.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 4.36 and a quick ratio of 3.73.

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

Insider Transactions at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, CFO Timothy Eugene Sullivan sold 1,730 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.96, for a total value of $51,830.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 86,370 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,587,645.20. The trade was a 1.96 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO James George Chopas sold 1,096 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.43, for a total value of $33,351.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 48,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,464,839.34. This represents a 2.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 66,054 shares of company stock worth $1,952,719. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APLS. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 956,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,581,000 after purchasing an additional 9,328 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 311.2% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 31,381 shares of the company’s stock worth $905,000 after acquiring an additional 23,749 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 52.9% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 159,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,606,000 after purchasing an additional 55,282 shares during the period. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 82.1% in the 3rd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 99,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,867,000 after purchasing an additional 44,829 shares in the last quarter. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. 96.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).