Brokerages Set Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) Price Target at $37.78

Key Points

• Apellis Pharmaceuticals has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from 20 analysts, with a 1-year price target averaging $37.78.
• Insider trading activity includes notable sales by General Counsel David O. Watson and CEO Cedric Francois, with a combined total exceeding $2.8 million in shares sold.
• In the latest quarter, Apellis reported an EPS of ($0.33), surpassing estimates, but revenue fell short of expectations at $171.39 million.

Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) have received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty analysts that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Nine 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. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $36.8333.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on shares of 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. Bank of America raised their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Citigroup lifted their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.55, for a total value of $97,750.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 128,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,516,671.50. This represents a 3.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Cedric Francois sold 137,465 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.19, for a total transaction of $2,775,418.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 343,433 shares in the company, valued at $6,933,912.27. The trade was a 28.59% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 169,090 shares of company stock valued at $3,403,832 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 6.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 16.7% during 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. increased its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 882,801 shares of the company's stock worth $28,170,000 after purchasing an additional 22,507 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake 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 worth $1,625,000 after buying an additional 44,332 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 11.4% in the 4th 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 purchasing an additional 21,822 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1,795.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,235 shares of the company's stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 9,695 shares in the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 2.1%

NASDAQ APLS traded down $0.51 on Friday, hitting $23.69. 776,462 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,291,909. 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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $19.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.99 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.01 and a beta of 0.78. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $16.10 and a 52-week high of $41.94.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported ($0.33) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.44) by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $171.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $187.91 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 116.09% and a negative net margin of 30.24%. The business's revenue was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.30) EPS. Research analysts forecast that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 EPS 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).