Apellis Pharmaceuticals' (APLS) Equal Weight Rating Reiterated at Wells Fargo & Company

Key Points

• Wells Fargo reiterated an "Equal Weight" rating on Apellis and raised its price target to $41 (up from $26), a level that implies roughly a 0.34% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment is mixed but leans toward caution — three Buys, eighteen Holds and two Sells — giving Apellis a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $34.89.
• Apellis posted a surprise quarterly EPS beat of $0.47 (vs. -$0.39 est.) on $199.9M revenue, the stock is trading near its one‑year high (~$40.90), and insiders have been net sellers (88,167 shares in the last 90 days).

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "equal weight" rating restated by Wells Fargo & Company in a research note issued to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $41.00 price objective on the stock, up from their previous price objective of $26.00. Wells Fargo & Company's price objective indicates a potential upside of 0.34% from the company's previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on APLS. Wedbush reduced their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. HC Wainwright lowered Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $48.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Mizuho upped their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $20.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a "sell" rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Roth Mkm cut Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apellis Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $34.89.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of NASDAQ APLS opened at $40.86 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $25.49 and a 200 day moving average of $24.05. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $16.10 and a 1 year high of $40.90. The stock has a market cap of $5.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 314.41 and a beta of -0.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 3.14 and a quick ratio of 2.70.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.39) by $0.86. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 8.20% and a net margin of 2.23%.The business had revenue of $199.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $199.28 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.29) earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, insider Caroline Baumal sold 2,797 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total transaction of $60,890.69. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 86,527 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,883,692.79. This represents a 3.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Mark Jeffrey Delong sold 3,371 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total transaction of $73,386.67. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 78,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,705,744.81. The trade was a 4.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 88,167 shares of company stock worth $1,878,741. 6.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of APLS. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 206.8% in the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,037 shares of the company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,373 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 141.2% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,682 shares of the company's stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,570 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 64.1% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,194 shares of the company's stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 857 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $64,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 338.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,429 shares of the company's stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 4,191 shares in the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc, traded as NASDAQ:APLS, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapies targeting the complement cascade for the treatment of rare and debilitating diseases. The company's research and development efforts center on modulating complement proteins to address a range of ophthalmologic, hematologic and renal conditions. Apellis leverages its proprietary compstatin technology platform to design targeted inhibitors intended to improve patient outcomes and quality of life.

The company's lead marketed product, Syfovre (pegcetacoplan), is an intravitreal complement C3 inhibitor approved for geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration, with ongoing investigations in other retinal disorders.

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