Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-one research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, eleven have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $39.79.

APLS has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Bank of America lowered shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $41.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $49.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $44.00 target price for the company. Finally, Scotiabank cut their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $28.00 to $20.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th.

Insider Activity at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.77, for a total transaction of $93,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 133,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,510,112.10. This represents a 3.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 6.80% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 2,707.1% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 786 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 357.2% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,175 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 918 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 3,938.7% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,252 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 1,221 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 80.0% in the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,924 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 855 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $83,000. 96.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of APLS stock opened at $17.89 on Wednesday. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $18.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a current ratio of 4.08 and a quick ratio of 3.62. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $16.10 and a 1 year high of $42.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.99 and a beta of 0.67.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.74) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.36) by ($0.38). Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 28.83% and a negative return on equity of 99.19%. The business had revenue of $149.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.61 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.54) EPS. The company's revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

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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