Citigroup Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Stock

Key Points

• Citigroup has raised its price target for Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $41.00 to $46.00, indicating a potential upside of 148.45% from the current price, and maintains a "buy" rating.
• Despite the positive outlook from Citigroup, Apellis Pharmaceuticals' stock has recently dropped 1.3%, trading at $18.52, and it has a market cap of $2.33 billion.
• The stock currently holds a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a consensus target price of $40.26, suggesting divided opinions among analysts regarding its future performance.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) had its price target upped by equities researchers at Citigroup from $41.00 to $46.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the stock. Citigroup's price target would indicate a potential upside of 100.44% from the stock's previous close.

APLS has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Scotiabank lowered 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 report on Thursday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Raymond James Financial lowered Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price 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. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apellis Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $37.78.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 2.7%

Shares of APLS stock traded up $0.61 on Tuesday, reaching $22.95. The company had a trading volume of 4,081,513 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,551,953. The stock has a market cap of $2.88 billion, a PE ratio of -12.61 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a 50-day moving average of $18.76 and a 200-day moving average of $21.84. The company has a current ratio of 4.08, a quick ratio of 3.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $16.10 and a 12 month high of $41.94.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported ($0.33) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.44) by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $171.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $187.91 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 30.24% and a negative return on equity of 108.68%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.30) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 137,465 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.19, for a total value of $2,775,418.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 343,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,933,912.27. The trade was a 28.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.55, for a total value of $97,750.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 128,730 shares in the company, valued at $2,516,671.50. The trade was a 3.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 169,090 shares of company stock valued at $3,403,832. Company insiders own 6.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 3,938.7% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,252 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,221 shares in the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 80.0% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. raised its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 21.9% in the 1st quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. now owns 3,185 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 573 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 15.6% in the 2nd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,855 shares of the company's stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1,819.2% during 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.29% of the company's stock.

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).