Wedbush Has Lowered Expectations for Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Stock Price

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) had its price objective dropped by Wedbush from $20.00 to $18.00 in a research note issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Wedbush’s price target points to a potential downside of 18.66% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on APLS. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, January 12th. Bank of America upgraded Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Barclays initiated coverage on Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 19th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $32.56.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.5%

NASDAQ APLS opened at $22.13 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 71.39 and a beta of 0.26. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $16.10 and a 12 month high of $30.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 3.54 and a quick ratio of 3.10. The company has a 50-day moving average of $23.20 and a 200-day moving average of $23.84.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.39) by $0.86. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 4.43% and a return on equity of 18.94%. The business had revenue of $199.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $199.28 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.29) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Caroline Baumal sold 2,797 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total value of $60,890.69. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 86,527 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,883,692.79. This trade represents a 3.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Pascal Deschatelets sold 5,928 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total value of $129,052.56. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,151,382 shares in the company, valued at $25,065,586.14. This trade represents a 0.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 120,537 shares of company stock valued at $2,608,532. 6.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in APLS. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 207.4% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 29,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $667,000 after purchasing an additional 19,944 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 26.6% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 307,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,730,000 after buying an additional 64,742 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 222,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,869,000 after buying an additional 9,747 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 118.4% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 21,883 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,000 after purchasing an additional 11,862 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1,146.2% in the first quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 23,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $522,000 after buying an additional 22,052 shares during the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Apellis Pharmaceuticals

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat on both EPS and revenue — Apellis reported $0.47 EPS vs. consensus of roughly -$0.39 and revenue of $199.9M, slightly above expectations; the print shows improvement from a loss a year ago and supports the commercialization story. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Management emphasized a strong EMPAVELI launch and commercial momentum, which is the primary growth driver investors will watch going forward. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Company filed slides and the earnings press release and posted full earnings/transcript resources for investors to review the call details and guidance assumptions. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Complete Q4 earnings call transcripts are available (multiple outlets), useful for parsing management commentary on uptake, pricing, and 2026 priorities. Read More. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short?interest data in the latest bulletin appears unreliable/empty (0 shares reported and NaN changes), so it shouldn’t be used to infer bearish positioning. (Data flagged by exchanges looked anomalous.)
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue was down ~5.9% year?over?year despite the EPS beat, and analysts still model a challenging near?term profit profile (consensus for the year remains negative), leaving the stock exposed if commercial growth slows or guidance disappoints.
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and technicals may be pressuring the stock — APLS trades with a rich P/E and sits below its 50? and 200?day moving averages, so upside hinges on sustained EMPAVELI uptake and clearer forward guidance.

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.