Apellis Pharmaceuticals’ (APLS) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at HC Wainwright

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by investment analysts at HC Wainwright in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $92.00 price objective on the stock. HC Wainwright’s price target points to a potential upside of 115.71% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on APLS. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. UBS Group cut their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $89.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James increased their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Finally, Wedbush lowered their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $57.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.13.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ APLS traded down $1.25 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $42.65. 1,791,482 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,575,431. The company has a market cap of $5.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.51 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $54.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $57.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 3.10 and a quick ratio of 2.50. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $19.83 and a 1 year high of $94.75.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.54) EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.54). Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 133.34% and a negative return on equity of 178.60%. The company had revenue of $172.33 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $163.37 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.56) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 284.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.27 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 781 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.77, for a total transaction of $52,928.37. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 103,390 shares in the company, valued at $7,006,740.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, insider Adam J. Townsend sold 1,148 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.77, for a total value of $77,799.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 92,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,265,539.81. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 781 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.77, for a total transaction of $52,928.37. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 103,390 shares in the company, valued at $7,006,740.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 376,427 shares of company stock valued at $23,169,639. 7.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Sippican Capital Advisors increased its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 16,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $958,000 after buying an additional 170 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% in the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 43,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,666,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 69.0% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the period. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System raised its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 23,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $883,000 after purchasing an additional 541 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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).