Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Price Target Raised to $40.00

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) had its price target increased by Cantor Fitzgerald from $39.00 to $40.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have an overweight rating on the stock.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $28.00 to $20.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.78.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ APLS opened at $22.95 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.77, a quick ratio of 3.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $16.10 and a 12 month high of $41.94. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $18.76 and a 200-day moving average of $21.73. The company has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.61 and a beta of 0.77.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported ($0.33) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by $0.11. The business had revenue of $171.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $187.91 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 116.09% and a negative net margin of 30.24%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.30) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 19,725 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.21, for a total transaction of $398,642.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 331,605 shares in the company, valued at $6,701,737.05. This represents a 5.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.55, for a total value of $97,750.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 128,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,516,671.50. This represents a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 169,090 shares of company stock valued at $3,403,832. 6.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of APLS. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth about $504,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,046,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,569,000 after purchasing an additional 230,450 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth about $34,662,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,838,952 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,699,000 after purchasing an additional 28,426 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth about $6,478,000. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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).