Insider Selling: Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) General Counsel Sells 2,475 Shares of Stock

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) General Counsel David Watson sold 2,475 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.79, for a total value of $48,980.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 96,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,907,023.77. The trade was a 2.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.3%

Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $0.48 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $20.95. The stock had a trading volume of 3,345,624 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,186,931. The company has a market cap of $2.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.58 and a beta of 0.31. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $22.93 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.52. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.10 and a 52 week high of $31.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 3.54 and a quick ratio of 3.10.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last released 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $364.58 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 4.43% and a return on equity of 18.94%. The company’s revenue was up 133.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.46) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current year.

Key Headlines Impacting Apellis Pharmaceuticals

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

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America upgraded Apellis from neutral to buy and set a $28 price target, citing strong early launch trajectory for the company’s kidney-disease therapy — a clear near-term catalyst for revenue upside. Apellis upgraded at BofA on launch trajectory for kidney disease therapy
• Positive Sentiment: An analyst note in Benzinga highlights that current valuation may underappreciate Empaveli (the company’s therapy) potential and early uptake in a rare kidney-disease market, signaling a possible multi-year revenue inflection if adoption continues. Apellis Valuation Ignores Empaveli Potential, Says Analyst
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo trimmed its price target from $29 to $26 but kept an overweight rating, reflecting a modest reset to near-term expectations while still projecting upside versus current levels. Wells Fargo trims price target to $26
• Neutral Sentiment: RBC Capital reiterated a hold rating for Apellis, indicating some analysts remain cautious despite positive launch signals. RBC Capital Sticks to Its Hold Rating for Apellis Pharmaceuticals (APLS)
• Negative Sentiment: Two insiders sold shares on Jan. 20 — CFO Timothy Sullivan sold 2,892 shares and General Counsel David Watson sold 2,475 shares. While both still hold large positions, insider sales can be perceived negatively by investors monitoring insider conviction. Form 4 – Timothy Eugene Sullivan Form 4 – David O. Watson

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 80.0% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,924 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 855 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 206.8% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,373 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 141.2% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,570 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted 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 buying an additional 857 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $64,000. 96.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America raised Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 31st. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.53.

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.