Mizuho Raises Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Price Target to $41.00

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) had its target price lifted by equities researchers at Mizuho from $20.00 to $41.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Mizuho’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 1.46% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on APLS. Raymond James Financial lowered shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wedbush cut their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Robert W. Baird lowered Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.11.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $40.41 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 3.14 and a quick ratio of 2.70. The company has a 50-day moving average of $22.24 and a 200 day moving average of $22.94. The firm has a market cap of $5.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 310.87 and a beta of -0.19. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $16.10 and a 1 year high of $40.48.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.39) by $0.86. The business had revenue of $199.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $199.28 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 2.23% and a return on equity of 8.20%. Apellis Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.29) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Mark Jeffrey Delong sold 3,371 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total value of $73,386.67. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 78,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,705,744.81. This represents a 4.12% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Cedric Francois sold 27,192 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total value of $591,969.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 286,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,227,199.65. The trade was a 8.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 115,537 shares of company stock valued at $2,486,082. Company insiders own 6.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,674,865 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,153,000 after buying an additional 687,471 shares during the last quarter. Deep Track Capital LP boosted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Deep Track Capital LP now owns 8,000,382 shares of the company’s stock valued at $181,049,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,382 shares during the last quarter. RTW Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at about $192,589,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 46.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,976,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,452,000 after acquiring an additional 1,898,995 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,613,446 shares of the company’s stock worth $115,890,000 after acquiring an additional 575,802 shares during the period. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Apellis Pharmaceuticals

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

• Positive Sentiment: Mizuho raised its price target sharply from $20 to $41 (maintaining a neutral rating), implying modest upside from current levels and signaling greater confidence in valuation after the run-up. Mizuho raises PT
• Neutral Sentiment: Citigroup reaffirmed a neutral stance on Apellis (reporting coverage note). This keeps some institutional support for a non‑committal view despite other downgrades. Citigroup reaffirm
• Neutral Sentiment: JPMorgan is reporting a “neutral” rating in recent coverage notes — another signal that large banks are shifting to more cautious, hold/neutral stances instead of bullish calls. JPMorgan neutral
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple major sell‑side firms downgraded Apellis (many moving from strong‑buy/overweight to hold/neutral): Roth MKM, Cantor Fitzgerald, Jefferies, William Blair, Robert W. Baird, HC Wainwright, Raymond James, Needham and others. These coordinated rating cuts are the primary near‑term driver putting downward pressure on the stock as investors lock in gains after the rally. Representative coverage: Zacks analyst downgrades roundup Cantor Fitzgerald downgrade Raymond James lowered

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.