Royal Bank Of Canada Lowers Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Price Target to $21.00

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) had its price target reduced by analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $22.00 to $21.00 in a report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “sector perform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s target price would indicate a potential downside of 0.98% from the stock’s previous close.

APLS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 31st. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. HC Wainwright boosted their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $32.67.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $0.92 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $21.21. 314,063 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 3,118,350. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.32 and a beta of 0.26. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.20 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.84. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $16.10 and a 1 year high of $30.48.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.39) by $0.86. The company had revenue of $199.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $199.28 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 4.43% and a return on equity of 18.94%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.29) earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Nur Nicholson sold 7,725 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 7,832 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total transaction of $170,502.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 88,531 shares in the company, valued at $1,927,319.87. This represents a 8.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold a total of 120,537 shares of company stock worth $2,608,532 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in APLS. Simplify Asset Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,419,000. Corton Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at approximately $364,000. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. boosted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 48.0% in the third quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. now owns 155,399 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,517,000 after buying an additional 50,375 shares during the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,135,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 91.9% in the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 485,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,406,000 after acquiring an additional 232,506 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Apellis Pharmaceuticals

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat on the bottom line and roughly in-line revenue; EPS of $0.47 topped consensus (-$0.39) and revenue of $199.9M roughly matched expectations — the print reduces near-term execution risk and highlights improving profitability. GlobeNewswire: Q4 results
• Positive Sentiment: Broker upgrade/price-target lift: HC Wainwright raised its target to $48 and reiterates a Buy, signaling bullish analyst conviction that could support upside if commercial momentum continues. Benzinga: HC Wainwright PT raise
• Neutral Sentiment: Management provided detail on the Q4 call and corporate slide deck — useful for modeling product uptake (EMPAVELI) and expense cadence but no major new guidance disclosed in headlines. Yahoo Finance: Q4 call transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple call transcripts and coverage (Seeking Alpha, InsiderMonkey, Zacks) provide color — analysts and sell?side will update models; these items increase information availability but are unlikely to move the stock materially absent new guidance. Seeking Alpha: Call transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Wedbush cut its price target to $18 and moved to a Neutral rating — the new target is below current levels and represents downside risk if other firms follow. TickerReport/Benzinga: Wedbush PT cut
• Negative Sentiment: Top-line softness: revenue declined ~5.9% YoY in the quarter and street models remain cautious (some analysts still foresee negative full?year EPS), leaving upside dependent on sustained product uptake and margin improvements. Zacks: Q4 results analysis

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.