James George Chopas Sells 2,064 Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Stock

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) CAO James George Chopas sold 2,064 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total value of $44,933.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 49,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,084,254.85. The trade was a 3.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

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

• On Tuesday, January 20th, James George Chopas sold 726 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.79, for a total value of $14,367.54.
• On Tuesday, January 13th, James George Chopas sold 873 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total transaction of $19,371.87.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.1%

NASDAQ:APLS opened at $21.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 3.54 and a quick ratio of 3.10. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $23.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.56. The company has a market capitalization of $2.75 billion, a PE ratio of 70.18 and a beta of 0.31. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.10 and a 1-year high of $30.91.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.64. The company had revenue of $458.58 million during 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%. Apellis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 133.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.46) EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 80.0% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,924 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 855 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 206.8% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 1,373 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 141.2% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,570 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 64.1% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 857 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth approximately $64,000. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Apellis Pharmaceuticals News

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

• Positive Sentiment: BofA upgraded APLS to Buy and cited a stronger-than-expected launch trajectory for Apellis’s newly approved kidney-disease therapy, assigning a $28 price target — a vote of confidence that implies material upside if commercial momentum continues. Apellis Raised to Buy at Bank of America
• Positive Sentiment: An analyst note highlights early uptake of Empaveli and argues current valuation understates its revenue potential; continued strong launch metrics could drive a re‑rating and support upside from current levels. Apellis Valuation Ignores Empaveli Potential, Says Analyst
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo trimmed its price target (from $29 to $26) but kept an Overweight rating — a mixed signal that reduces upside expectations while leaving institutional support intact. Wells Fargo lowers price target on Apellis
• Neutral Sentiment: RBC Capital reiterated a Hold rating, a neutral stance that may temper buying interest from investors seeking stronger analyst conviction. RBC Capital Sticks to Its Hold Rating for Apellis Pharmaceuticals (APLS)
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple senior insiders — including CEO Cedric Francois, CFO Timothy Sullivan, General Counsel David Watson and others — filed Form 4 sales on Jan. 20–22 (large, clustered disposals totaling many tens of thousands of shares). Even if routine (diversification or option-related), clustered executive selling typically weighs on near‑term sentiment and likely contributed to the stock decline. See CEO filing for details. CEO Cedric Francois Form 4

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on APLS shares. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company 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 target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, January 12th. Bank of America raised Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, December 19th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.