Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Receives New Coverage from Analysts at William Blair

William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) in a report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued an outperform rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. HC Wainwright dropped their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $92.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $64.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $66.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apellis Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.00.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $27.95 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $34.53 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $39.92. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $26.28 and a 12 month high of $73.80. The company has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a PE ratio of -8.08 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 5.08, a quick ratio of 4.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.30) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.33) by $0.03. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 52.99% and a negative return on equity of 138.32%. The business had revenue of $199.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190.89 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($1.02) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 110.2% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.37 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director A. Sinclair Dunlop sold 37,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.23, for a total value of $1,340,510.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,623,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 471.5% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 23,722 shares of the company’s stock worth $684,000 after acquiring an additional 19,571 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 15.5% during the third quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 27,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $796,000 after acquiring an additional 3,700 shares during the last quarter. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth $609,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky purchased a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth $725,000. Finally, Algert Global LLC grew its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 137.8% in the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 123,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,742,000 after purchasing an additional 71,650 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).