Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Downgraded to "Hold" Rating by William Blair

Key Points

• William Blair downgraded Apellis from "strong‑buy" to "hold"; multiple other analysts have cut ratings or lowered targets and MarketBeat shows a consensus rating of Hold with a $33 consensus price target.
• Biogen agreed to acquire Apellis for about $5.6 billion ($41.00/share plus a non‑transferable CVR tied to SYFOVRE sales), which sparked a major share rally but also prompted shareholder investigations and analyst downgrades, creating legal and closing risk.

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

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on APLS. Roth Mkm started coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, March 13th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC lowered Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Wedbush reduced their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, February 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $33.00.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.4%

APLS stock opened at $40.39 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 2.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market cap of $5.16 billion, a P/E 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 business's 50 day moving average is $21.50 and its 200-day moving average is $22.71.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.39) by $0.86. The firm had revenue of $199.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $199.28 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 8.20% and a net margin of 2.23%.The business's revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.29) earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CFO Timothy Eugene Sullivan sold 10,287 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total transaction of $223,947.99. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 93,901 shares in the company, valued at $2,044,224.77. The trade was a 9.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Cedric Francois sold 27,192 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total transaction of $591,969.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 286,045 shares in the company, valued at $6,227,199.65. This represents a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 115,537 shares of company stock worth $2,486,082. Insiders own 6.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APLS. Wedmont Private Capital lifted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 11,883 shares of the company's stock valued at $315,000 after buying an additional 468 shares during the period. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System boosted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 96,125 shares of the company's stock worth $2,415,000 after purchasing an additional 530 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank lifted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 6.9% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 8,674 shares of the company's stock worth $196,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares in the last quarter. Xponance LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Xponance LLC now owns 18,164 shares of the company's stock valued at $456,000 after purchasing an additional 681 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Allworth Financial LP grew its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 64.1% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,194 shares of the company's stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 857 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.29% of the company's stock.

More Apellis Pharmaceuticals News

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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