Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Shares Down 4.4% Following Analyst Downgrade

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) dropped 4.4% on Monday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $64.00 to $57.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Apellis Pharmaceuticals traded as low as $35.96 and last traded at $35.96. Approximately 67,189 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 95% from the average daily volume of 1,475,236 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.62.

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on APLS. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $86.00 to $96.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. HC Wainwright cut their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $92.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $66.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.67.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director A. Sinclair Dunlop sold 37,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.24, for a total value of $1,451,880.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 136,998 shares in the company, valued at $5,375,801.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $56,640,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth about $3,218,000. Bellevue Group AG boosted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 821,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,193,000 after acquiring an additional 27,959 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at about $942,000. Finally, Altitude Crest Partners Inc. acquired a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth about $9,111,000. 96.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $4.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.87 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 5.08 and a quick ratio of 4.18.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.30) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.33) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $199.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190.89 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 52.99% and a negative return on equity of 138.32%. The firm’s revenue was up 110.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.02) EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.29 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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).