Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) was upgraded by equities researchers at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on APLS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $24.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Raymond James Financial dropped their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.06.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of APLS opened at $19.26 on Friday. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $16.10 and a one year high of $35.72. The company has a market cap of $2.44 billion, a PE ratio of 62.13 and a beta of 0.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $24.73 and a 200-day moving average of $21.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 3.54 and a quick ratio of 3.10.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.64. The business had revenue of $458.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $364.58 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 18.94% and a net margin of 4.43%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 133.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.46) EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, CFO Timothy Eugene Sullivan sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.03, for a total value of $280,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 110,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,109,536.08. The trade was a 8.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Cedric Francois sold 175,037 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.19, for a total value of $4,934,293.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 357,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,089,454.71. This trade represents a 32.84% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 312,921 shares of company stock worth $8,490,866 over the last 90 days. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Assetmark Inc. raised its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 3,938.7% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,221 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 80.0% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,924 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 855 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 206.8% in the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,373 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 141.2% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,570 shares during the period. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 15.6% in the second quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

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).