Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Shares Down 3% After Analyst Downgrade

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) shares traded down 3% during trading on Tuesday after Robert W. Baird lowered their price target on the stock from $96.00 to $92.00. Robert W. Baird currently has an outperform rating on the stock. Apellis Pharmaceuticals traded as low as $31.65 and last traded at $31.73. 154,620 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 90% from the average session volume of 1,510,224 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.72.

APLS has been the topic of several other research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $66.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Mizuho decreased their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $64.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.53.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director A. Sinclair Dunlop sold 37,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.23, for a total transaction of $1,340,510.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,623,000. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 6.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth about $29,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth approximately $89,000. nVerses Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 300.0% during the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,000 after purchasing an additional 2,100 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 299.9% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,151 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,000 after purchasing an additional 3,113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $205,000. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $3.81 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.32 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 4.18 and a current ratio of 5.08. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $37.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $43.32.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.30) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.33) by $0.03. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 52.99% and a negative return on equity of 138.32%. The company had revenue of $199.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190.89 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($1.02) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 110.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.29 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of therapeutic compounds through the inhibition of the complement system for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. It offers EMPAVELI for the treatment of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, C3 glomerulopathy and immune complex membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis, and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation-associated thrombotic microangiopathy; and SYFOVRE for treating geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration and geographic atrophy (GA).