Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Trading Up 7.8% – Time to Buy?

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)’s share price rose 7.8% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $25.98 and last traded at $25.8130. Approximately 983,852 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 52% from the average daily volume of 2,039,147 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.94.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $24.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $26.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Friday, September 26th. TD Cowen reduced their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 31st. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, November 6th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apellis Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.94.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The firm has a fifty day moving average of $22.63 and a 200-day moving average of $23.20. The company has a quick ratio of 3.10, a current ratio of 3.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 82.29 and a beta of 0.31.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last announced its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $458.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $364.58 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 18.94% and a net margin of 4.43%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 133.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.46) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.49, for a total value of $122,450.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 103,730 shares in the company, valued at $2,540,347.70. This represents a 4.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Timothy Eugene Sullivan sold 10,000 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.03, for a total value of $280,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 110,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,109,536.08. This represents a 8.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 56,092 shares of company stock valued at $1,366,652 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Allworth Financial LP raised its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 64.1% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 857 shares during the last quarter. CIBC Bancorp USA Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,533,000. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 186.8% during the third quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 17,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $402,000 after buying an additional 11,558 shares during the period. Caxton Associates LLP purchased a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $248,000. Finally, Woodline Partners LP boosted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 2.3% during the third quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 542,981 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,288,000 after acquiring an additional 12,058 shares during the last quarter. 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.