Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Trading 2.3% Higher

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) was up 2.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $56.62 and last traded at $56.40. Approximately 274,277 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average daily volume of 1,477,916 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.12.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on APLS shares. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $67.00 to $54.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 14th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday. Wedbush raised their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $92.00 price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Three equities research 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apellis Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $78.60.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 3.1 %

The company has a market capitalization of $6.85 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.69 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 2.50 and a current ratio of 3.10. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $61.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $56.64.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.73) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.73). Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 178.60% and a negative net margin of 133.34%. The business had revenue of $146.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $143.34 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($1.50) EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 545.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 781 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.77, for a total transaction of $52,928.37. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 103,390 shares in the company, valued at $7,006,740.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, insider Jeffrey Eisele sold 438 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.81, for a total value of $29,262.78. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 72,650 shares in the company, valued at $4,853,746.50. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 781 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.77, for a total transaction of $52,928.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 103,390 shares in the company, valued at $7,006,740.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 422,279 shares of company stock valued at $26,174,364 in the last quarter. 7.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,555,678 shares of the company's stock valued at $572,003,000 after acquiring an additional 85,701 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% during the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,923,920 shares of the company's stock valued at $300,993,000 after acquiring an additional 58,208 shares during the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 5.9% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,842,660 shares of the company's stock valued at $302,124,000 after acquiring an additional 326,537 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 66.9% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,590,040 shares of the company's stock valued at $302,760,000 after acquiring an additional 1,840,498 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 79.8% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,542,209 shares of the company's stock valued at $134,746,000 after acquiring an additional 1,571,606 shares during the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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).