Insider Selling: Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Insider Sells 7,725 Shares of Stock

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) insider Nur Nicholson sold 7,725 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total transaction 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Nur Nicholson also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, January 20th, Nur Nicholson sold 2,203 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.79, for a total transaction of $43,597.37.
• On Tuesday, January 13th, Nur Nicholson sold 2,618 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total transaction of $58,093.42.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of APLS stock traded down $0.25 during trading on Friday, hitting $21.76. The company had a trading volume of 2,214,978 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,258,745. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.18 and a beta of 0.31. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a one year low of $16.10 and a one year high of $30.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 3.10 and a current ratio of 3.54. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $22.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.49.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.64. The firm had revenue of $458.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $364.58 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 18.94% and a net margin of 4.43%.The company’s revenue was up 133.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.46) EPS. Equities analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have commented on APLS. Mizuho cut their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $24.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 19th. Bank of America upgraded shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apellis Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.53.

Key Apellis Pharmaceuticals News

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

• Positive Sentiment: BofA upgraded APLS to Buy and cited a stronger-than-expected launch trajectory for Apellis’s newly approved kidney-disease therapy, assigning a $28 price target — a vote of confidence that implies material upside if commercial momentum continues. Apellis Raised to Buy at Bank of America
• Positive Sentiment: An analyst note highlights early uptake of Empaveli and argues current valuation understates its revenue potential; continued strong launch metrics could drive a re?rating and support upside from current levels. Apellis Valuation Ignores Empaveli Potential, Says Analyst
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo trimmed its price target (from $29 to $26) but kept an Overweight rating — a mixed signal that reduces upside expectations while leaving institutional support intact. Wells Fargo lowers price target on Apellis
• Neutral Sentiment: RBC Capital reiterated a Hold rating, a neutral stance that may temper buying interest from investors seeking stronger analyst conviction. RBC Capital Sticks to Its Hold Rating for Apellis Pharmaceuticals (APLS)
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple senior insiders — including CEO Cedric Francois, CFO Timothy Sullivan, General Counsel David Watson and others — filed Form 4 sales on Jan. 20–22 (large, clustered disposals totaling many tens of thousands of shares). Even if routine (diversification or option-related), clustered executive selling typically weighs on near?term sentiment and likely contributed to the stock decline. See CEO filing for details. CEO Cedric Francois Form 4

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of APLS. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 80.0% during the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,924 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 855 shares during the period. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 206.8% in the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,373 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings 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 valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 1,570 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 64.1% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 857 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth about $64,000. 96.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.