Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Trading Down 4.8% – Should You Sell?

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)’s stock price dropped 4.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $27.57 and last traded at $27.60. Approximately 844,801 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 55% from the average daily volume of 1,890,824 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.99.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $92.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut 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 note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $63.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apellis Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $51.06.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $3.46 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.28 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $29.45 and a 200-day simple moving average of $35.90. The company has a quick ratio of 3.73, a current ratio of 4.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.46) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.32) by ($0.14). Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 34.97% and a negative return on equity of 103.11%. The company had revenue of $196.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $200.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.17) EPS. Apellis Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 78.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director A. Sinclair Dunlop sold 37,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,623,000. The trade was a 27.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 6.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Braidwell LP grew its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 410.8% during the third quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 3,125,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,130,000 after buying an additional 2,513,383 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 191.9% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,144,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,845,000 after purchasing an additional 1,409,707 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,810,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,229,000 after acquiring an additional 22,609 shares in the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 47.7% in the 2nd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 1,401,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,750,000 after buying an additional 452,753 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake 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 in the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).