Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Upgraded at Barclays

Barclays upgraded shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

APLS has been the subject of a number of other reports. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 31st. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.00.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of APLS stock opened at $23.05 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $23.24 and a 200-day moving average of $23.62. The stock has a market cap of $2.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 74.36 and a beta of 0.31. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $16.10 and a 52-week high of $30.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 3.10 and a current ratio of 3.54.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Pascal Deschatelets sold 5,928 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total transaction of $129,052.56. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,151,382 shares in the company, valued at $25,065,586.14. This represents a 0.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Timothy Eugene Sullivan sold 10,287 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total transaction of $223,947.99. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 93,901 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,044,224.77. This represents a 9.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 125,169 shares of company stock valued at $2,700,681. Insiders own 6.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 207.4% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 29,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $667,000 after purchasing an additional 19,944 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 26.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 307,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,730,000 after buying an additional 64,742 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 222,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,869,000 after buying an additional 9,747 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth boosted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 118.4% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 21,883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $479,000 after buying an additional 11,862 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1,146.2% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 23,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $522,000 after buying an additional 22,052 shares during the period. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Apellis Pharmaceuticals

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.