Cantor Fitzgerald Increases Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Price Target to $40.00

Key Points

• Cantor Fitzgerald has raised its price target for Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $40.00, indicating a potential upside of 72.81% from its previous close.
• The stock of Apellis Pharmaceuticals is currently rated as a "Moderate Buy" by analysts, with nine holding ratings and ten buy ratings.
• Apellis reported a quarterly EPS of ($0.33), outperforming analysts' expectations, despite a revenue decline of 10.6% year-over-year.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by Cantor Fitzgerald from $39.00 to $40.00 in a research note released on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

Other analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $37.78.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.7%

NASDAQ:APLS traded up $0.61 on Friday, reaching $22.95. The stock had a trading volume of 4,081,513 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,551,953. The company has a 50-day moving average of $18.76 and a 200 day moving average of $21.79. The company has a current ratio of 4.08, a quick ratio of 3.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76. The stock has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.61 and a beta of 0.77. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $16.10 and a 12-month high of $41.94.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported ($0.33) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.44) by $0.11. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 108.68% and a negative net margin of 30.24%. The firm had revenue of $171.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $187.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.30) earnings per share. Apellis Pharmaceuticals's revenue for the quarter was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 137,465 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 343,433 shares in the company, valued at $6,933,912.27. The trade was a 28.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.55, for a total transaction of $97,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 128,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,516,671.50. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 169,090 shares of company stock valued at $3,403,832. Company insiders own 6.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,222,222 shares of the company's stock valued at $390,011,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111,111 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,130,356 shares of the company's stock valued at $221,551,000 after buying an additional 84,331 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in 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 period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% in the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,661,823 shares of the company's stock worth $46,076,000 after purchasing an additional 184,292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,838,952 shares of the company's stock worth $58,699,000 after purchasing an additional 28,426 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.29% of the company's stock.

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).