Morgan Stanley Begins Coverage on Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS)

Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 0.75% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on APLS. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $61.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Oppenheimer cut their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $43.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.94.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:APLS opened at $30.77 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 4.36 and a quick ratio of 3.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.85 and a beta of 0.87. The company’s 50-day moving average is $29.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.79. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $24.34 and a 1-year high of $73.80.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.46) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.32) by ($0.14). Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 103.11% and a negative net margin of 34.97%. The company had revenue of $196.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $200.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($1.17) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 78.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director A. Sinclair Dunlop sold 37,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.23, for a total value of $1,340,510.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,623,000. This represents a 27.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wolverine Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth $56,000. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the period. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC boosted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 300.0% during the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100 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).