Raymond James Financial Cuts Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Price Target to $50.00

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial has lowered its price target for Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $52.00 to $50.00, maintaining an "outperform" rating, suggesting a potential upside of 119.26% based on the company's current price.
• The company's recent earnings report revealed a loss of ($0.33) earnings per share, which was better than analysts’ expectations of ($0.44), but revenue fell short at $171.39 million compared to expectations of $187.91 million.
• Insider transactions show a notable decrease in ownership, with CEO Cedric Francois and General Counsel David O. Watson selling significant shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals recently.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Free Report) had its target price cut by Raymond James Financial from $52.00 to $50.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an outperform rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on APLS. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $36.83.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:APLS traded down $0.03 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $24.23. The company had a trading volume of 2,439,669 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,289,617. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $16.10 and a 52-week high of $41.94. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $18.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.69. The company has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a PE ratio of -13.32 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 3.16, a current ratio of 3.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported ($0.33) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by $0.11. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 30.24% and a negative return on equity of 116.09%. The company had revenue of $171.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $187.91 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.30) earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.55, for a total value of $97,750.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 128,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,516,671.50. This represents a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Cedric Francois sold 19,725 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.21, for a total transaction of $398,642.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 331,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,701,737.05. This trade represents a 5.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 169,090 shares of company stock worth $3,403,832. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 3,938.7% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,252 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 1,221 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 80.0% during the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,924 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 855 shares during the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $83,000. Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1,819.2% during the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,992 shares of the company's stock valued at $127,000 after buying an additional 3,784 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 15.6% during the second quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,855 shares of the company's stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 655 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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).