Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Price Target Raised to $37.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase raised its price target on Apellis from $36 to $37 and maintained an overweight rating, implying roughly an 83.62% upside from the current share price.
• Analyst views are mixed—12 Buys, 7 Holds and 2 Sells—leaving a MarketBeat consensus rating of Hold and a mean price target of $32.72.
• Apellis beat EPS expectations ($0.47 vs. -$0.39) on roughly in‑line revenue of $199.9M (down 5.9% YoY), while insiders sold about 120,537 shares in the last 90 days and institutional investors own ~96.3% of the stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) had its price objective increased by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $36.00 to $37.00 in a research report issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s target price points to a potential upside of 83.62% from the stock's current price.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "sell" rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, January 12th. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, December 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective 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. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $32.72.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $0.29 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $20.15. 2,925,525 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,998,906. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $22.70 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.64. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $16.10 and a 1 year high of $30.48. The company has a market capitalization of $2.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 155.01 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 2.70 and a current ratio of 3.14.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Timothy Eugene Sullivan sold 10,287 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total value of $223,947.99. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 93,901 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,044,224.77. This trade represents a 9.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Nur Nicholson sold 7,725 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total transaction of $168,173.25. Following the sale, the insider owned 71,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,548,238.86. This represents a 9.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 120,537 shares of company stock worth $2,608,532. Corporate insiders own 6.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 23.5% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 225,976 shares of the company's stock worth $5,677,000 after acquiring an additional 42,960 shares in the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 25.4% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 96,211 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,424,000 after acquiring an additional 19,500 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $366,000. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC now owns 27,086 shares of the company's stock valued at $680,000 after buying an additional 4,013 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Twinbeech Capital LP lifted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 47.3% during the fourth quarter. Twinbeech Capital LP now owns 13,152 shares of the company's stock valued at $330,000 after buying an additional 4,225 shares in the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Apellis Pharmaceuticals

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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