Roth Mkm Downgrades Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) to Hold

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) was downgraded by investment analysts at Roth Mkm from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $41.00 price objective (up from $37.00) on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Apellis Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Robert W. Baird cut Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.11.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ APLS 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 stock has a market capitalization of $5.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 310.87 and a beta of -0.19. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.24 and its 200-day simple moving average is $22.94. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $16.10 and a 12 month high of $40.48.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.39) by $0.86. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 2.23% and a return on equity of 8.20%. The firm had revenue of $199.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $199.28 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.29) EPS. The business’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Caroline Baumal sold 2,797 shares of the firm’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 $60,890.69. Following the transaction, the insider owned 86,527 shares in the company, valued at $1,883,692.79. This trade represents a 3.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO James George Chopas sold 2,064 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals 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 $44,933.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 49,805 shares in the company, valued at $1,084,254.85. This represents a 3.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 115,537 shares of company stock worth $2,486,082 in the last quarter. 6.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APLS. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings 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 worth $667,000 after buying an additional 19,944 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 26.6% in the first 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 stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% in the first 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% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 21,883 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,000 after acquiring an additional 11,862 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1,146.2% during the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 23,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $522,000 after acquiring an additional 22,052 shares during the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.