Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Shares Up 7.7% After Analyst Upgrade

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) shares were up 7.7% during trading on Monday after Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on the stock from $26.00 to $29.00. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Apellis Pharmaceuticals traded as high as $18.50 and last traded at $18.24. Approximately 369,656 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 84% from the average daily volume of 2,278,869 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.93.

APLS has been the subject of several other reports. Wedbush decreased their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Scotiabank decreased their target price 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. Citigroup dropped their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $49.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $55.00 to $47.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $40.05.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 119.6% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,077,419 shares of the company's stock worth $89,173,000 after buying an additional 2,220,977 shares during the period. Boxer Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $45,504,000. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 266,361.5% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,385,600 shares of the company's stock valued at $44,214,000 after buying an additional 1,385,080 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 969.6% in the fourth quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,518,827 shares of the company's stock worth $48,465,000 after buying an additional 1,376,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $41,014,000. Institutional investors own 96.29% of the company's stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.9%

The stock has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.50 and a beta of 0.73. The stock's 50-day moving average is $18.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 4.36 and a quick ratio of 3.73.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.74) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.36) by ($0.38). Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 34.97% and a negative return on equity of 103.11%. The company had revenue of $149.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.61 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.54) EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research 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).