HC Wainwright Reiterates Buy Rating for Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS)

HC Wainwright restated their buy rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) in a report published on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $92.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on APLS. Needham & Company LLC restated a buy rating and issued a $85.00 price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, April 9th. UBS Group upped their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Mizuho restated a neutral rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a hold rating to a buy rating and upped their price target for the stock from $68.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $77.93.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.1 %

Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $47.51 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $5.73 billion, a PE ratio of -10.60 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 2.50 and a current ratio of 3.10. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $19.83 and a one year high of $94.75. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $60.13 and a 200 day moving average of $56.97.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.73) EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.73). The company had revenue of $146.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $143.34 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 178.60% and a negative net margin of 133.34%. Apellis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 545.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($1.50) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.33 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 250,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.11, for a total value of $16,027,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 313,662 shares in the company, valued at $20,108,870.82. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 250,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.11, for a total value of $16,027,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 313,662 shares in the company, valued at $20,108,870.82. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director A. Sinclair Dunlop sold 18,681 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.18, for a total value of $1,068,179.58. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 173,998 shares in the company, valued at $9,949,205.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 406,651 shares of company stock valued at $25,130,257 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 7.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 69.0% during the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 649 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Covestor Ltd increased its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 564.2% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 797 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 677 shares during the period. Stephens Consulting LLC purchased a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth $38,000. Finally, US Bancorp DE increased its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 391.2% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after purchasing an additional 884 shares during the period. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Apellis Pharmaceuticals

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).