Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) General Counsel Sells $170,502.64 in Stock

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) General Counsel David Watson sold 7,832 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total value of $170,502.64. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 88,531 shares in the company, valued at $1,927,319.87. This trade represents a 8.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $21.76 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $23.02 and a 200 day moving average of $23.59. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.10 and a 12 month high of $30.91. The firm has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a PE ratio of 70.18 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a current ratio of 3.54, a quick ratio of 3.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.64. The business had revenue of $458.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $364.58 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 18.94% and a net margin of 4.43%.The company’s revenue was up 133.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.46) EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. HC Wainwright lowered their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $57.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 31st. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $24.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apellis Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.53.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of APLS. Deep Track Capital LP raised its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 14.3% in the third quarter. Deep Track Capital LP now owns 8,000,382 shares of the company’s stock worth $181,049,000 after buying an additional 1,000,382 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 46.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,976,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,452,000 after acquiring an additional 1,898,995 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 11,373.8% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,704,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,821,000 after purchasing an additional 2,681,263 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% during the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,661,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,076,000 after purchasing an additional 184,292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc lifted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 96.0% during the third quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 2,650,230 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,975,000 after purchasing an additional 1,298,055 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Here are the key news stories impacting Apellis Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: BofA upgraded APLS to Buy and cited a stronger-than-expected launch trajectory for Apellis’s newly approved kidney-disease therapy, assigning a $28 price target — a vote of confidence that implies material upside if commercial momentum continues. Apellis Raised to Buy at Bank of America
• Positive Sentiment: An analyst note highlights early uptake of Empaveli and argues current valuation understates its revenue potential; continued strong launch metrics could drive a re‑rating and support upside from current levels. Apellis Valuation Ignores Empaveli Potential, Says Analyst
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo trimmed its price target (from $29 to $26) but kept an Overweight rating — a mixed signal that reduces upside expectations while leaving institutional support intact. Wells Fargo lowers price target on Apellis
• Neutral Sentiment: RBC Capital reiterated a Hold rating, a neutral stance that may temper buying interest from investors seeking stronger analyst conviction. RBC Capital Sticks to Its Hold Rating for Apellis Pharmaceuticals (APLS)
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple senior insiders — including CEO Cedric Francois, CFO Timothy Sullivan, General Counsel David Watson and others — filed Form 4 sales on Jan. 20–22 (large, clustered disposals totaling many tens of thousands of shares). Even if routine (diversification or option-related), clustered executive selling typically weighs on near‑term sentiment and likely contributed to the stock decline. See CEO filing for details. CEO Cedric Francois Form 4

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc, traded as NASDAQ:APLS, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapies targeting the complement cascade for the treatment of rare and debilitating diseases. The company’s research and development efforts center on modulating complement proteins to address a range of ophthalmologic, hematologic and renal conditions. Apellis leverages its proprietary compstatin technology platform to design targeted inhibitors intended to improve patient outcomes and quality of life.

The company’s lead marketed product, Syfovre (pegcetacoplan), is an intravitreal complement C3 inhibitor approved for geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration, with ongoing investigations in other retinal disorders.