Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Downgraded to Hold Rating by Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the company. Roth Mkm initiated coverage on Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, March 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Bank of America upgraded Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and set a $41.00 target price (up from $37.00) on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.00.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of APLS stock opened at $40.39 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 2.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $16.10 and a 1 year high of $40.45. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $21.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 310.72 and a beta of 0.26.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $199.28 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.29) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 7,832 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 $170,502.64. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 88,531 shares in the company, valued at $1,927,319.87. This represents a 8.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Nur Nicholson sold 7,725 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total value of $168,173.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 71,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,548,238.86. The trade was a 9.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. 6.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 35.9% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 567,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,244,000 after purchasing an additional 149,654 shares during the last quarter. Simplify Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,419,000. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. lifted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 48.0% during the 3rd quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. now owns 155,399 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,517,000 after buying an additional 50,375 shares during the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,135,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group grew its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 91.9% in the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 485,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,406,000 after buying an additional 232,506 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Biogen agreed to acquire Apellis for about $5.6 billion, offering $41.00/share in cash plus a non-transferable CVR tied to SYFOVRE sales — this is the main driver of the large share rally. Biogen to buy Apellis for $5.6B (Reuters)
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage updates pushed some price targets up to the deal level (Barclays raised its PT to $41 from $24), which supports the takeover valuation. Barclays raises PT to $41 (Benzinga)
• Neutral Sentiment: Several firms reiterated neutral/market?perform ratings with price targets clustered near $41, reflecting the deal price rather than new upside from standalone operations. Analyst reaffirms (Benzinga)
• Neutral Sentiment: APLS saw extremely high intraday volume and a multi?day surge after the deal announcement; such spikes often normalize as the market digests deal terms and regulatory/closing risk. APLS moves 135% higher (Zacks)
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple shareholder law firms have opened investigations and flagged potential challenges to the adequacy of the $41 per?share price and the sale process — this creates legal/closing risk and could pressure sentiment. M&A class action investigation (PR Newswire)
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrades followed the deal news: Needham cut APLS from Buy to Hold and JP Morgan issued a downgrade in subsequent coverage — these moves can weigh on near?term trading, especially if analysts see limited upside beyond the deal price. Needham downgrades to Hold (American Banking News) JP Morgan downgrades (MSN)

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.