Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Price Target Raised to $20.00 at Mizuho

Key Points

• Mizuho raised its price target on Apellis from $19 to $20 and kept a "neutral" rating, implying only about a 0.7% upside from the prior close.
• Apellis reported quarterly EPS of $0.47, beating expectations (consensus -$0.39) with $199.9M in revenue roughly in line with estimates but down 5.9% year-over-year; analysts still forecast about -1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.
• MarketBeat shows an average analyst rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $32.67, reflecting wide analyst divergence (12 Buys, 7 Holds, 2 Sells) amid heavy institutional ownership (~96%).

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) had its price objective hoisted by analysts at Mizuho from $19.00 to $20.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a "neutral" rating on the stock. Mizuho's price target would indicate a potential upside of 0.70% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on APLS. Citigroup dropped their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Barclays started coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $24.00 price target for the company. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada dropped their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $32.67.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:APLS opened at $19.86 on Thursday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.70 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.64. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $16.10 and a 52 week high of $30.48. The company has a quick ratio of 2.70, a current ratio of 3.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 152.78 and a beta of 0.26.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, insider Pascal Deschatelets sold 5,928 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total value of $129,052.56. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,151,382 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $25,065,586.14. The trade was a 0.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Caroline Baumal sold 2,797 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total value of $60,890.69. Following the sale, the insider owned 86,527 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,883,692.79. This represents a 3.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 120,537 shares of company stock worth $2,608,532. Insiders own 6.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APLS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,674,865 shares of the company's stock worth $268,153,000 after purchasing an additional 687,471 shares in the last quarter. Deep Track Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 14.3% in the third quarter. Deep Track Capital LP now owns 8,000,382 shares of the company's stock worth $181,049,000 after buying an additional 1,000,382 shares during the last quarter. RTW Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $192,589,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 46.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,976,414 shares of the company's stock valued at $103,452,000 after buying an additional 1,898,995 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,613,446 shares of the company's stock valued at $115,890,000 after acquiring an additional 575,802 shares during the period. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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