Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) CEO Cedric Francois Sells 27,192 Shares

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) CEO Cedric Francois sold 27,192 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total value of $591,969.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 286,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,227,199.65. The trade was a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Cedric Francois also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, January 20th, Cedric Francois sold 8,182 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.79, for a total value of $161,921.78.
• On Tuesday, January 13th, Cedric Francois sold 10,186 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total transaction of $226,027.34.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.1%

APLS opened at $21.76 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $23.02 and its 200-day moving average is $23.52. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.10 and a 52-week high of $30.91. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $2.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.18 and a beta of 0.31.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.64. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 4.43% and a return on equity of 18.94%. The business had revenue of $458.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $364.58 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.46) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 133.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

APLS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. William Blair reiterated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 15th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apellis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.53.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Simplify Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth $2,419,000. Corton Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth $364,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 43.5% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 100,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,838,000 after buying an additional 30,507 shares during the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,135,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group grew its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 91.9% during 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.

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

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.