Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Shares Gap Up Following Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Key Points

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Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) gapped up before the market opened on Thursday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $19.00, but opened at $20.65. Apellis Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $22.46, with a volume of 1,416,245 shares changing hands.

The company reported ($0.33) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.44) by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $171.39 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $187.91 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 30.24% and a negative return on equity of 108.68%. The company's revenue was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.30) EPS.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on APLS shares. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $28.00 to $20.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC cut their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $37.78.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.55, for a total transaction of $97,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 128,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,516,671.50. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Cedric Francois sold 19,725 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.21, for a total transaction of $398,642.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 331,605 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,701,737.05. This represents a 5.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 169,090 shares of company stock valued at $3,403,832 over the last three months. Insiders own 6.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in APLS. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,222,222 shares of the company's stock worth $390,011,000 after acquiring an additional 1,111,111 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,130,356 shares of the company's stock worth $221,551,000 after acquiring an additional 84,331 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 119.6% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,077,419 shares of the company's stock worth $89,173,000 after acquiring an additional 2,220,977 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% in the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,661,823 shares of the company's stock worth $46,076,000 after acquiring an additional 184,292 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,838,952 shares of the company's stock worth $58,699,000 after acquiring an additional 28,426 shares during the period. 96.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 2.7%

The stock's 50 day moving average is $18.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.84. The company has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a PE ratio of -12.61 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a quick ratio of 3.62, a current ratio of 4.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76.

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).