Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Reaches New 12-Month High - What's Next?

Key Points

• Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) hit a new 52‑week high of $40.63 Monday, trading around $40.55 on roughly 1.65 million shares.
• Analysts are mixed with a MarketBeat consensus of "Hold" and an average target of $34.11, following several recent price‑target adjustments and downgrades.
• Apellis beat quarterly estimates with $0.47 EPS and $199.9M revenue, but trades at a high P/E (~312) and has seen notable insider selling (115,537 shares over 90 days) amid ~96% institutional ownership.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $40.63 and last traded at $40.5510, with a volume of 1646645 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $40.41.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

APLS has been the subject of several analyst reports. HC Wainwright downgraded Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $48.00 to $41.00 in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, December 29th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $24.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $20.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $34.11.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 3.14 and a quick ratio of 2.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 312.22 and a beta of -0.19. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $22.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.93.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Mark Jeffrey Delong sold 3,371 shares of the firm'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 value of $73,386.67. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 78,353 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,705,744.81. This trade represents a 4.12% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Caroline Baumal sold 2,797 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 value of $60,890.69. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 86,527 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,883,692.79. This trade represents a 3.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 115,537 shares of company stock valued at $2,486,082. 6.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of APLS. RTW Investments LP acquired a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $192,589,000. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 11,373.8% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,704,837 shares of the company's stock worth $46,821,000 after acquiring an additional 2,681,263 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at about $40,977,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 1,898,995 shares during the period. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc grew its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 96.0% in the third quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 2,650,230 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,975,000 after purchasing an additional 1,298,055 shares during the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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