Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Stock Price Expected to Rise, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Analyst Says

Key Points

• JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised the price target for Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $35.00 to $37.00, indicating a potential upside of 52.51% from its previous close and maintaining an "overweight" rating on the stock.
• Multiple analysts are bullish on Apellis Pharmaceuticals, with Citigroup increasing their price target to $46.00 and Bank of America adjusting theirs to $24.00, while a consensus rating remains a "Moderate Buy" with a target of $36.83.
• Apellis Pharmaceuticals reported a loss of ($0.33) earnings per share in their latest quarterly results, outperforming estimates but showing a 10.6% year-over-year decrease in revenue.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) had its price target upped by investment analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $35.00 to $37.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "overweight" rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 52.51% from the stock's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $36.83.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 5.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:APLS traded up $1.31 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $24.26. The company had a trading volume of 3,397,156 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,291,402. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90, a current ratio of 3.77 and a quick ratio of 3.16. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $18.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.33 and a beta of 0.77. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $16.10 and a one year high of $41.94.

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

Insider Activity at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 19,725 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals 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 owned 331,605 shares in the company, valued at $6,701,737.05. The trade was a 5.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.55, for a total transaction of $97,750.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 128,730 shares in the company, valued at $2,516,671.50. This represents a 3.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 169,090 shares of company stock valued at $3,403,832 over the last three months. 6.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Assetmark Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 3,938.7% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,252 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 1,221 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 80.0% in the second 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. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $83,000. Covestor Ltd increased its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1,819.2% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,992 shares of the company's stock worth $127,000 after purchasing an additional 3,784 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 15.6% in the second quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,855 shares of the company's stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares during the period. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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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