Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Lowered to Sell Rating by The Goldman Sachs Group

Key Points

• Apellis Pharmaceuticals has been downgraded by The Goldman Sachs Group from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating, with a price objective of $18.00, indicating a potential downside of 18.99% from its current price.
• Despite the downgrade, other analysts have varying perspectives on the stock; Robert W. Baird upgraded its price target to $50.00 with an "outperform" rating, while the consensus rating remains a "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $33.29.
• Recent insider selling indicates some caution, as Company Director A. Sinclair Dunlop sold 31,092 shares, marking a 31.09% decrease in their ownership of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) was downgraded by The Goldman Sachs Group from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating in a report released on Friday,Finviz reports. They presently have a $18.00 price objective on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group's price objective would indicate a potential downside of 18.99% from the company's current price.

APLS has been the topic of several other research reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen raised Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $33.29.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:APLS opened at $22.22 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.16, a current ratio of 3.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $24.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $21.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.21 and a beta of 0.73. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $16.10 and a 12-month high of $35.72.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director A. Sinclair Dunlop sold 31,092 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.95, for a total transaction of $713,561.40. Following the sale, the director owned 68,908 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,581,438.60. This represents a 31.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.34, for a total value of $121,700.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 118,730 shares in the company, valued at $2,889,888.20. This represents a 4.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 430,919 shares of company stock valued at $10,656,945 over the last 90 days. 6.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APLS. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 19.6% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,615 shares of the company's stock worth $307,000 after buying an additional 1,578 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 212,887 shares of the company's stock worth $6,793,000 after purchasing an additional 21,822 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 140.8% during the fourth quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 33,594 shares of the company's stock worth $1,072,000 after purchasing an additional 19,641 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1,795.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,235 shares of the company's stock worth $224,000 after purchasing an additional 9,695 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 324.4% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 33,762 shares of the company's stock worth $738,000 after purchasing an additional 25,806 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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).

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