Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Robert W. Baird

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) was downgraded by analysts at Robert W. Baird from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on APLS. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $24.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday. Bank of America raised shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 target price for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $41.00 price target (down from $48.00) on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.00.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

APLS stock opened at $40.39 on Tuesday. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $16.10 and a 1-year high of $40.45. The company has a current ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 2.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The firm has a market cap of $5.16 billion, a PE ratio of 310.72 and a beta of 0.26. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $21.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $22.71.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.39) by $0.86. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 8.20% and a net margin of 2.23%.The company had revenue of $199.91 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $199.28 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.29) earnings per share. Apellis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CAO James George Chopas sold 2,064 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total transaction of $44,933.28. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Mark Jeffrey Delong sold 3,371 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total value of $73,386.67. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 78,353 shares in the company, valued at $1,705,744.81. The trade was a 4.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 115,537 shares of company stock valued at $2,486,082. Company insiders own 6.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted 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 worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 1,373 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. lifted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 141.2% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,570 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 64.1% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 857 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth $64,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 338.5% during the 2nd 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 period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Apellis Pharmaceuticals

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

• Positive Sentiment: Biogen agreed to acquire Apellis for about $5.6 billion, offering $41.00/share in cash plus a non-transferable CVR tied to SYFOVRE sales — this is the main driver of the large share rally. Biogen to buy Apellis for $5.6B (Reuters)
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage updates pushed some price targets up to the deal level (Barclays raised its PT to $41 from $24), which supports the takeover valuation. Barclays raises PT to $41 (Benzinga)
• Neutral Sentiment: Several firms reiterated neutral/market‑perform ratings with price targets clustered near $41, reflecting the deal price rather than new upside from standalone operations. Analyst reaffirms (Benzinga)
• Neutral Sentiment: APLS saw extremely high intraday volume and a multi‑day surge after the deal announcement; such spikes often normalize as the market digests deal terms and regulatory/closing risk. APLS moves 135% higher (Zacks)
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple shareholder law firms have opened investigations and flagged potential challenges to the adequacy of the $41 per‑share price and the sale process — this creates legal/closing risk and could pressure sentiment. M&A class action investigation (PR Newswire)
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrades followed the deal news: Needham cut APLS from Buy to Hold and JP Morgan issued a downgrade in subsequent coverage — these moves can weigh on near‑term trading, especially if analysts see limited upside beyond the deal price. Needham downgrades to Hold (American Banking News) JP Morgan downgrades (MSN)

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.