Weiss Ratings Reiterates Sell (E+) Rating for Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS)

Key Points

• Weiss Ratings has reaffirmed a "sell (E+)" rating for Apellis Pharmaceuticals, indicating negative sentiment towards the stock.
• Despite the negative rating from Weiss, Cantor Fitzgerald has raised its price target for Apellis from $39 to $40, while the Goldman Sachs Group has lowered its target from $26 to $18.
• Apellis Pharmaceuticals reported revenues of $171.39 million in its latest quarterly earnings, falling short of analyst expectations of $187.91 million.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "sell (e+)" rating reaffirmed by Weiss Ratings in a research report issued on Friday,Weiss Ratings reports.

Several other analysts have also weighed in on APLS. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $26.00 to $18.00 in a research note on Friday, September 26th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apellis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $33.47.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:APLS traded down $0.44 during trading on Friday, hitting $28.17. 1,259,256 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,287,526. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $16.10 and a 1-year high of $35.72. The company has a market capitalization of $3.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.48 and a beta of 0.69. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $25.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90, a quick ratio of 3.16 and a current ratio of 3.77.

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

Insider Transactions at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CFO Timothy Eugene Sullivan sold 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.03, for a total transaction of $280,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 110,936 shares in the company, valued at $3,109,536.08. The trade was a 8.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.22, for a total value of $126,100.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 113,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,868,270.60. The trade was a 4.21% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 312,921 shares of company stock worth $8,490,866. Insiders own 6.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 1,221 shares during the last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 80.0% in the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,924 shares of the company's stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 855 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 141.2% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,682 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,570 shares during the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. increased its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 21.9% in the first 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 last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its holdings 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 valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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).

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