Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Apellis Pharmaceuticals has received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from nineteen ratings firms, with nine analysts rating it as a hold, nine as a buy, and one as a strong buy.
• The average 12-month price target for Apellis Pharmaceuticals is $34.12, with notable target price increases from Citigroup and Robert W. Baird, raising the target from $41 to $46 and from $47 to $50, respectively.
• In its most recent quarter, Apellis reported an EPS of -$0.33, exceeding the consensus estimate of -$0.44, despite a year-over-year revenue decline of 10.6% to $171.39 million.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the nineteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $34.1176.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Bank of America boosted their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $28.00 to $20.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

APLS stock opened at $28.22 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90, a quick ratio of 3.16 and a current ratio of 3.77. The company has a market capitalization of $3.56 billion, a PE ratio of -15.51 and a beta of 0.78. The company's fifty day moving average price is $21.56 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.39. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $16.10 and a one year high of $41.94.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported ($0.33) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by $0.11. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 30.24% and a negative return on equity of 116.09%. The business had revenue of $171.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $187.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.30) EPS. The business's revenue was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 137,465 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.19, for a total transaction of $2,775,418.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 343,433 shares in the company, valued at $6,933,912.27. This represents a 28.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.80, for a total value of $139,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 123,730 shares in the company, valued at $3,439,694. This trade represents a 3.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 174,090 shares of company stock worth $3,542,832. Insiders own 6.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Cerity Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 16.7% in the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 54,444 shares of the company's stock worth $1,191,000 after purchasing an additional 7,777 shares during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 882,801 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,170,000 after acquiring an additional 22,507 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 147.8% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 74,325 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,625,000 after acquiring an additional 44,332 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 212,887 shares of the company's stock worth $6,793,000 after acquiring an additional 21,822 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1,795.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,235 shares of the company's stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 9,695 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.29% of the company's stock.

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).

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