James George Chopas Sells 726 Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Stock

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) CAO James George Chopas sold 726 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.79, for a total value of $14,367.54. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 51,869 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,026,487.51. This represents a 1.38% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

James George Chopas also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, January 13th, James George Chopas sold 873 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total transaction of $19,371.87.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ APLS traded up $0.48 on Wednesday, hitting $20.95. The stock had a trading volume of 3,751,970 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,365,575. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $22.93 and a 200-day moving average of $23.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 3.10 and a current ratio of 3.54. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.10 and a 52-week high of $31.17. The company has a market capitalization of $2.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.58 and a beta of 0.31.

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

Key Headlines Impacting Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Here are the key news stories impacting Apellis Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America upgraded Apellis from neutral to buy and set a $28 price target, citing strong early launch trajectory for the company’s kidney-disease therapy — a clear near-term catalyst for revenue upside. Apellis upgraded at BofA on launch trajectory for kidney disease therapy
• Positive Sentiment: An analyst note in Benzinga highlights that current valuation may underappreciate Empaveli (the company’s therapy) potential and early uptake in a rare kidney-disease market, signaling a possible multi-year revenue inflection if adoption continues. Apellis Valuation Ignores Empaveli Potential, Says Analyst
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo trimmed its price target from $29 to $26 but kept an overweight rating, reflecting a modest reset to near-term expectations while still projecting upside versus current levels. Wells Fargo trims price target to $26
• Neutral Sentiment: RBC Capital reiterated a hold rating for Apellis, indicating some analysts remain cautious despite positive launch signals. RBC Capital Sticks to Its Hold Rating for Apellis Pharmaceuticals (APLS)
• Negative Sentiment: Two insiders sold shares on Jan. 20 — CFO Timothy Sullivan sold 2,892 shares and General Counsel David Watson sold 2,475 shares. While both still hold large positions, insider sales can be perceived negatively by investors monitoring insider conviction. Form 4 – Timothy Eugene Sullivan Form 4 – David O. Watson

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in APLS. Simplify Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth $2,419,000. Corton Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth about $364,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 43.5% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 100,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,838,000 after buying an additional 30,507 shares during the period. Highland Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,135,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 91.9% during the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 485,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,406,000 after acquiring an additional 232,506 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on APLS. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Bank of America raised Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.53.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc, traded as NASDAQ:APLS, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapies targeting the complement cascade for the treatment of rare and debilitating diseases. The company’s research and development efforts center on modulating complement proteins to address a range of ophthalmologic, hematologic and renal conditions. Apellis leverages its proprietary compstatin technology platform to design targeted inhibitors intended to improve patient outcomes and quality of life.

The company’s lead marketed product, Syfovre (pegcetacoplan), is an intravitreal complement C3 inhibitor approved for geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration, with ongoing investigations in other retinal disorders.