Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Trading Up 6.6% – Still a Buy?

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)’s stock price traded up 6.6% on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $22.36 and last traded at $23.31. 417,900 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 2,047,019 shares. The stock had previously closed at $21.87.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APLS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Wedbush dropped their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Eight 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.53.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 5.3 %

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.88 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $29.36. The stock has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.35 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a current ratio of 4.36, a quick ratio of 3.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.29) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.37) by $0.08. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 34.97% and a negative return on equity of 103.11%. The business had revenue of $212.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $197.92 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted ($0.73) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 45.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 3,323 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.43, for a total transaction of $101,118.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 144,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,412,167.42. The trade was a 2.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Caroline Baumal sold 2,816 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.81, for a total value of $95,208.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 55,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,878,483.60. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,054 shares of company stock valued at $1,952,719 over the last 90 days. 6.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 956,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,581,000 after purchasing an additional 9,328 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 311.2% in the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 31,381 shares of the company’s stock worth $905,000 after acquiring an additional 23,749 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 52.9% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 159,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,606,000 after acquiring an additional 55,282 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 82.1% during the third quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 99,401 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,867,000 after acquiring an additional 44,829 shares during the period. Finally, True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. 96.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).