Citigroup Issues Positive Forecast for Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Stock Price

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 objective upped by equities researchers at Citigroup from $41.00 to $46.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a "buy" rating on the stock. Citigroup's price target indicates a potential upside of 148.45% from the company's current price.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. Mizuho decreased their price objective 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. Raymond James Financial downgraded shares of 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. Scotiabank decreased 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. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $44.00 price objective for the company. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $40.26.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:APLS traded down $0.24 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $18.52. 3,686,619 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,212,740. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $16.10 and a fifty-two week high of $41.94. The company has a quick ratio of 3.62, a current ratio of 4.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $18.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.95. The firm has a market cap of $2.33 billion, a PE ratio of -10.33 and a beta of 0.67.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.74) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.36) by ($0.38). Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 28.83% and a negative return on equity of 99.19%. The business had revenue of $149.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $197.61 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.54) earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.55, for a total value of $97,750.00. Following the completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Cedric Francois sold 19,725 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.21, for a total transaction of $398,642.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 331,605 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,701,737.05. This trade represents a 5.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 169,090 shares of company stock valued at $3,403,832 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Bayforest Capital Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 8.2% during the 2nd quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 56,639 shares of the company's stock worth $980,000 after acquiring an additional 4,301 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 29.8% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 127,584 shares of the company's stock worth $2,208,000 after acquiring an additional 29,326 shares during the period. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS lifted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 20.0% during the 2nd quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 15,600 shares of the company's stock worth $270,000 after acquiring an additional 2,600 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 15.6% during the 2nd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,855 shares of the company's stock worth $84,000 after acquiring an additional 655 shares during the period. Finally, J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG lifted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 145.6% during the 2nd quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG now owns 115,684 shares of the company's stock worth $2,002,000 after acquiring an additional 68,588 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.29% of the company's stock.

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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