Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Downgraded to "Hold" Rating by Jefferies Financial Group

Key Points

• Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) from a "strong-buy" to a "hold" in a report issued Tuesday.
• Biogen agreed to acquire Apellis for about $5.6 billion (approximately $41.00/share, plus a CVR tied to Syfovre sales), triggering a sharp share rally and prompting some firms to raise price targets to the deal level.
• Despite the takeover news, analysts' consensus remains an average "Hold" (5 buys, 16 holds, 2 sells) with an average target of $33; Apellis recently reported an EPS beat but year‑over‑year revenue decline and is trading near the $41 deal price.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) was downgraded by research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on APLS. Wedbush cut their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Roth Mkm began coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, March 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "sell" rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apellis Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $33.00.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.4%

APLS opened at $40.39 on Tuesday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $21.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.71. The company has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a PE ratio of 310.72 and a beta of 0.26. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $16.10 and a 1-year high of $40.45. The company has a current ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 2.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Timothy Eugene Sullivan sold 10,287 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total value of $223,947.99. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 93,901 shares in the company, valued at $2,044,224.77. The trade was a 9.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Pascal Deschatelets sold 5,928 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 $129,052.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,151,382 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,065,586.14. The trade was a 0.51% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 115,537 shares of company stock worth $2,486,082. 6.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of APLS. RTW Investments LP bought a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $192,589,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 11,373.8% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,704,837 shares of the company's stock worth $46,821,000 after buying an additional 2,681,263 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth $40,977,000. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 46.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,976,414 shares of the company's stock valued at $103,452,000 after acquiring an additional 1,898,995 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc increased its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 96.0% during the third quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 2,650,230 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,975,000 after acquiring an additional 1,298,055 shares during the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Here are the key news stories impacting Apellis Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Biogen agreed to acquire Apellis for about $5.6 billion, offering $41.00/share in cash plus a non-transferable CVR tied to SYFOVRE sales — this is the main driver of the large share rally. Biogen to buy Apellis for $5.6B (Reuters)
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage updates pushed some price targets up to the deal level (Barclays raised its PT to $41 from $24), which supports the takeover valuation. Barclays raises PT to $41 (Benzinga)
• Neutral Sentiment: Several firms reiterated neutral/market‑perform ratings with price targets clustered near $41, reflecting the deal price rather than new upside from standalone operations. Analyst reaffirms (Benzinga)
• Neutral Sentiment: APLS saw extremely high intraday volume and a multi‑day surge after the deal announcement; such spikes often normalize as the market digests deal terms and regulatory/closing risk. APLS moves 135% higher (Zacks)
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple shareholder law firms have opened investigations and flagged potential challenges to the adequacy of the $41 per‑share price and the sale process — this creates legal/closing risk and could pressure sentiment. M&A class action investigation (PR Newswire)
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrades followed the deal news: Needham cut APLS from Buy to Hold and JP Morgan issued a downgrade in subsequent coverage — these moves can weigh on near‑term trading, especially if analysts see limited upside beyond the deal price. Needham downgrades to Hold (American Banking News) JP Morgan downgrades (MSN)

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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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