Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Shares Up 7.5% – Still a Buy?

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) was up 7.5% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $23.79 and last traded at $23.45. Approximately 1,865,689 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 38% from the average daily volume of 2,990,746 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.81.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APLS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. HC Wainwright reduced their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $57.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 19th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.00.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 6.2%

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.93 billion, a PE ratio of 74.55 and a beta of 0.31. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $23.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.63. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.64. The company had revenue of $458.58 million for 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%.Apellis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 133.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.46) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Pascal Deschatelets sold 5,928 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total value of $129,052.56. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,151,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,065,586.14. This represents a 0.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Cedric Francois sold 27,192 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 $591,969.84. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 286,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,227,199.65. This trade represents a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 125,169 shares of company stock valued at $2,700,681 in the last 90 days. 6.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Deep Track Capital LP lifted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 14.3% during the third quarter. Deep Track Capital LP now owns 8,000,382 shares of the company’s stock worth $181,049,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,382 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 46.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,976,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,452,000 after acquiring an additional 1,898,995 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 11,373.8% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,704,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,821,000 after acquiring an additional 2,681,263 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% during the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,661,823 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,076,000 after purchasing an additional 184,292 shares during the period. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc boosted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 96.0% in the third quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 2,650,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,975,000 after purchasing an additional 1,298,055 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

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.