Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Trading Down 4.9% After Analyst Downgrade

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) was down 4.9% during trading on Tuesday after Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on the stock from $24.00 to $21.00. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the stock. Apellis Pharmaceuticals traded as low as $17.52 and last traded at $17.14. Approximately 380,776 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average daily volume of 2,140,498 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.03.

APLS has been the subject of several other research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Wedbush cut their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.35.

Insider Activity at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 2,824 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.52, for a total transaction of $83,364.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 415,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,271,316.40. The trade was a 0.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.10, for a total value of $139,781.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 138,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,482,123. This trade represents a 3.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,005 shares of company stock worth $299,037. Company insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Barclays PLC raised its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 18.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 255,897 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,381,000 after purchasing an additional 39,019 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $390,000. Exome Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 114.0% in the 3rd quarter. Exome Asset Management LLC now owns 100,367 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,895,000 after buying an additional 53,467 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,884,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,036,000 after buying an additional 735,160 shares during the period. Finally, Eastern Bank boosted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 87.0% in the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 21,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $686,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 3.7 %

The company has a quick ratio of 3.73, a current ratio of 4.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.86. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.56 and a beta of 0.85.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.29) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.37) by $0.08. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 34.97% and a negative return on equity of 103.11%. The business had revenue of $212.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $197.92 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.73) EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 45.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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).