Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Shares Gap Down After Analyst Downgrade

Key Points

• Apellis Pharmaceuticals experienced a significant drop in stock price after Goldman Sachs downgraded it from a neutral to a sell rating, setting a new price target of $18.00.
• Despite the downgrade, several other analysts have raised their price targets and given the stock ratings ranging from "Overweight" to "Buy," resulting in an average target price of $33.29.
• Insider trading activity revealed that General Counsel David O. Watson and CEO Cedric Francois sold significant amounts of stock recently, indicating a decrease in insider ownership.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) gapped down prior to trading on Friday after The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded the stock from a neutral rating to a sell rating. The stock had previously closed at $22.22, but opened at $21.24. The Goldman Sachs Group now has a $18.00 price target on the stock. Apellis Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $22.11, with a volume of 570,867 shares.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective 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. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $33.29.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.34, for a total value of $121,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 118,730 shares in the company, valued at $2,889,888.20. The trade was a 4.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Cedric Francois sold 175,037 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 357,909 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. Insiders sold a total of 430,919 shares of company stock worth $10,656,945 in the last three months. Insiders own 6.50% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APLS. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 58,856 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,019,000 after buying an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. raised its stake 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 last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake 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 last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 80.0% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,924 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 855 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 55,529 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,214,000 after buying an additional 864 shares during the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.79 billion, a PE ratio of -12.16 and a beta of 0.73. 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 business's 50 day simple moving average is $24.52 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.20.

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

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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