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. The company's lead product candidate is pegcetacoplan that is in Phase III clinical trials for the treatment of geographic atrophy (GA) in age-related macular degeneration and paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) diseases. It also develops EMPAVELI (systemic pegcetacoplan) for the treatment of cold agglutinin disease (CAD), and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation-associated thrombotic microangiopathy (HSCT-TMA) in hematology; C3 glomerulopathy (C3G), and immune complex membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis (IC-MPGN) in nephrology; and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) in neurology. In addition, the company develops APL-2006, a bispecific C3 and VEGF inhibitor for treating complement-mediated disorders; APL-1030, a C3 inhibitor for the treatment of multiple neurodegenerative diseases; and the combination of EMPAVELI and a small interfering RNA, or siRNA for reducing the production of C3 proteins by the liver. It has a collaboration and license agreement with Swedish Orphan Biovitrum AB (publ) to co-develop pegcetacoplan; and a research collaboration with Beam Therapeutics Inc. focused on the use of Beam's base editing technology to discover new treatments for complement-driven diseases. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. was incorporated in 2009 and is based in Waltham, Massachusetts.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on APLS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $94.00 to $84.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 24th. Raymond James lowered their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $114.00 to $102.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 5th. Credit Suisse Group raised their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals to $49.00 in a research report on Friday, May 20th. Citigroup raised their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $81.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 20th. Finally, Roth Capital lowered Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $40.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, April 13th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given 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, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $70.36.
Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ:APLS opened at $63.33 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a quick ratio of 8.58 and a current ratio of 8.85. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $47.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $46.36. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $27.50 and a twelve month high of $67.74.
Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 4th. The company reported ($1.42) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.36) by ($0.06). The company had revenue of $14.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.81 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 607.37% and a negative net margin of 866.81%. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($2.32) EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -5.67 EPS for the current year.
Insider Buying and Selling
In related news, insider Victoria L. Brown sold 2,698 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total value of $121,410.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 24,974 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,123,830. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Adam J. Townsend sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.43, for a total transaction of $282,150.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,907 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,139,092.01. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Victoria L. Brown sold 2,698 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $45.00, for a total transaction of $121,410.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 24,974 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,123,830. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 101,789 shares of company stock valued at $4,748,310. 8.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
