Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) Given Average Rating of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Apellis Pharmaceuticals has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from 19 ratings firms, with an average 1-year price target of $34.12.
• Recent insider activity includes CEO Cedric Francois selling 175,037 shares for approximately $4.93 million, marking a 32.84% decrease in his ownership stake.
• For the latest quarter, Apellis reported a revenue of $171.39 million, which fell short of analyst estimates and represented a 10.6% decrease year-over-year.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) has received an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the nineteen analysts that are covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, nine have issued a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $34.1176.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on APLS shares. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.1%

APLS traded up $0.48 on Monday, reaching $23.49. 1,549,709 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,039,484. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $24.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.20. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $16.10 and a 52-week high of $35.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90, a quick ratio of 3.16 and a current ratio of 3.77.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last posted 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $187.91 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 30.24% and a negative return on equity of 116.09%. The company's revenue was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.30) earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.34, for a total transaction of $121,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 118,730 shares in the company, valued at $2,889,888.20. This trade represents a 4.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Cedric Francois sold 49,963 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.39, for a total transaction of $1,418,449.57. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 307,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,742,586.94. This represents a 13.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 430,919 shares of company stock valued at $10,656,945 in the last 90 days. 6.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APLS. Marshall Wace LLP raised its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 11,373.8% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,704,837 shares of the company's stock worth $46,821,000 after purchasing an additional 2,681,263 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at $40,977,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 119.6% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,077,419 shares of the company's stock worth $89,173,000 after acquiring an additional 2,220,977 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 386.7% during the second quarter. Amundi now owns 1,604,105 shares of the company's stock valued at $28,585,000 after acquiring an additional 1,274,523 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board boosted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 2,879.3% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,048,700 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,935,000 after acquiring an additional 1,013,500 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.29% of the company's stock.

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).