Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Trading Down 4.1% - Time to Sell?

Key Points

• Apellis Pharmaceuticals' shares declined by 4.1%, closing at $24.96, with trading volume down 82% from the average session.
• Multiple research firms have increased their price targets for Apellis Pharmaceuticals, with projections ranging from $29.00 to $50.00, indicating a generally positive outlook on the stock.
• The company reported a revenue of $171.39 million for the last quarter, which was below analyst expectations, reflecting a 10.6% year-over-year decrease.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) was down 4.1% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $25.20 and last traded at $24.96. Approximately 399,951 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 2,273,110 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.04.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 29th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $34.12.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 2.3%

The company has a current ratio of 3.77, a quick ratio of 3.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $24.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.28.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.80, for a total transaction of $139,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 123,730 shares in the company, valued at $3,439,694. This trade represents a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Cedric Francois sold 175,037 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.19, for a total transaction of $4,934,293.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 357,909 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,089,454.71. The trade was a 32.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 394,638 shares of company stock valued at $9,817,112. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 3,938.7% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,252 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,221 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 80.0% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,924 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 855 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 141.2% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,682 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,570 shares during the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. raised its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 21.9% during the 1st quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. now owns 3,185 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 573 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 15.6% during the 2nd 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 period. Institutional investors 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).