Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Shares Down 4.9% Following Analyst Downgrade

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) shares dropped 4.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on the stock from $24.00 to $21.00. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the stock. Apellis Pharmaceuticals traded as low as $17.52 and last traded at $17.14. Approximately 380,776 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 2,140,498 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.03.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Wedbush cut their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $45.35.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,569 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.10, for a total transaction of $139,781.90. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 138,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,482,123. The trade was a 3.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Cedric Francois sold 2,824 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.52, for a total transaction of $83,364.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 415,695 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,271,316.40. This represents a 0.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 11,005 shares of company stock valued at $299,037 over the last quarter. Insiders own 6.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of APLS. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,222,222 shares of the company's stock worth $390,011,000 after buying an additional 1,111,111 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,046,025 shares of the company's stock valued at $320,569,000 after acquiring an additional 230,450 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,884,730 shares of the company's stock worth $112,036,000 after buying an additional 735,160 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 51.6% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,760,404 shares of the company's stock worth $88,084,000 after acquiring an additional 939,289 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 127.2% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,856,442 shares of the company's stock worth $59,239,000 after purchasing an additional 1,039,182 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.29% of the company's stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.3 %

The company has a current ratio of 4.36, a quick ratio of 3.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. The company has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.62 and a beta of 0.85. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $22.70 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.65.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.29) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.37) by $0.08. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 103.11% and a negative net margin of 34.97%. The company had revenue of $212.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $197.92 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.73) earnings per share. Apellis Pharmaceuticals's revenue was up 45.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current 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).