Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Receives “Hold” Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS)‘s stock had its “hold” rating restated by analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Roth Mkm assumed coverage on Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, March 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.42.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 135.6%

NASDAQ APLS traded up $23.18 on Tuesday, reaching $40.27. 75,214,330 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,010,369. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $16.10 and a 12 month high of $40.45. The company has a market cap of $5.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 309.75 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $20.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 2.70 and a current ratio of 3.14.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.39) by $0.86. The business had revenue of $199.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $199.28 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 8.20% and a net margin of 2.23%.The business’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.29) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 27,192 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was 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 represents a 8.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Pascal Deschatelets sold 5,928 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,151,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,065,586.14. The trade was a 0.51% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 115,537 shares of company stock valued at $2,486,082 over the last quarter. Insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 206.8% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 1,373 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 141.2% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,570 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 64.1% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 857 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 338.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 4,191 shares in the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.