Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Price Target Raised 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 target hoisted by Cantor Fitzgerald from $39.00 to $40.00 in a research report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial cut their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Scotiabank cut their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $28.00 to $20.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $36.83.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.1%

APLS traded down $0.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $24.23. 2,439,669 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,289,617. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $18.90 and a 200 day simple moving average of $21.69. The firm has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.32 and a beta of 0.78. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $16.10 and a 1 year high of $41.94. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported ($0.33) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by $0.11. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 116.09% and a negative net margin of 30.24%. The company had revenue of $171.39 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $187.91 million. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.30) EPS. Apellis Pharmaceuticals's quarterly revenue was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.55, for a total value of $97,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Cedric Francois sold 137,465 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.19, for a total value of $2,775,418.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 343,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,933,912.27. This trade represents a 28.59% 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. Insiders own 6.80% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 3,938.7% in the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,252 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,221 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 80.0% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,924 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 855 shares in the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $83,000. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1,819.2% in the 4th quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,992 shares of the company's stock valued at $127,000 after purchasing an additional 3,784 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 15.6% in the 2nd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,855 shares of the company's stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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).