Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Trading Up 4.9%

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)’s stock price was up 4.9% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $58.48 and last traded at $58.25. Approximately 232,211 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 1,561,178 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.53.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on APLS shares. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Apellis Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $67.00 to $54.00 in a report on Thursday, December 14th. Bank of America raised shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their target price for the company from $52.00 to $85.00 in a report on Tuesday, December 5th. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Mizuho reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.93.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 2.50, a current ratio of 3.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $7.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.12 and a beta of 0.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $63.46 and a 200-day moving average of $55.83.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.73) EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.73). The firm had revenue of $146.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $143.34 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 133.34% and a negative return on equity of 178.60%. The firm’s revenue was up 545.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($1.50) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.36 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, insider Caroline Baumal sold 2,751 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.05, for a total value of $165,197.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 32,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,977,506.55. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 781 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.77, for a total value of $52,928.37. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 103,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,006,740.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Caroline Baumal sold 2,751 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $60.05, for a total transaction of $165,197.55. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,931 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,977,506.55. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 351,923 shares of company stock worth $22,361,395. 7.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wynnefield Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $380,000. General American Investors Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,712,000. Profund Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 114.5% in the 3rd quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 35,153 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,337,000 after acquiring an additional 18,766 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 6.1% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 879,357 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,451,000 after acquiring an additional 50,835 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 105.2% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,023,507 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,934,000 after buying an additional 524,797 shares during the period. 96.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).