Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Sets New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) shares hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $40.63 and last traded at $40.5510, with a volume of 1646645 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $40.41.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on APLS shares. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Apellis Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Wall Street Zen lowered Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Citigroup reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $41.00 price target (down from $44.00) on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, April 1st. Roth Mkm lowered Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $20.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seventeen have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.11.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.2%

The company has a current ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 2.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.18. The company has a market cap of $5.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 313.10 and a beta of -0.19.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 27,192 shares of the company’s 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 owned 286,045 shares in the company, valued at $6,227,199.65. This represents a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CAO James George Chopas sold 2,064 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were 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 owned 49,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,084,254.85. This trade represents a 3.98% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 115,537 shares of company stock valued at $2,486,082. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of APLS. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 207.4% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 29,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $667,000 after buying an additional 19,944 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 valued at $6,730,000 after buying an additional 64,742 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings 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 valued at $4,869,000 after buying an additional 9,747 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 118.4% in the first 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 period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1,146.2% in the first 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

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.