Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Shares Gap Down – Time to Sell?

Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $22.47, but opened at $21.12. Apellis Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $22.1640, with a volume of 513,725 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

APLS has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $24.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Barclays started coverage on Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.00.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.1%

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $23.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 3.10 and a current ratio of 3.54. The firm has a market cap of $2.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 71.78 and a beta of 0.26.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.39) by $0.86. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 18.94% and a net margin of 4.43%.The company had revenue of $199.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $199.28 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.29) EPS. Apellis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, insider Mark Jeffrey Delong sold 3,371 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total transaction of $73,386.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 78,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,705,744.81. The trade was a 4.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Caroline Baumal sold 2,797 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total transaction of $60,890.69. Following the transaction, the insider owned 86,527 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,883,692.79. This trade represents a 3.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders sold 120,537 shares of company stock valued at $2,608,532. Company insiders own 6.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of APLS. Jones Financial Companies Lllp increased its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 206.8% during the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 1,373 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 141.2% during the 2nd 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 period. Allworth Financial LP increased its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 64.1% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $64,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 338.5% in the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after buying an additional 4,191 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

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.