Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Price Target Lowered to $18.00 at Wedbush

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) had its target price lowered by analysts at Wedbush from $20.00 to $18.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Wedbush’s price objective points to a potential downside of 18.66% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. TD Cowen lowered their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, December 29th. Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, November 6th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $32.56.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ APLS opened at $22.13 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.39 and a beta of 0.26. The business’s 50 day moving average is $23.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $23.84. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $16.10 and a 12-month high of $30.48. The company has a current ratio of 3.54, a quick ratio of 3.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.39) by $0.86. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 18.94% and a net margin of 4.43%.The firm had revenue of $199.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $199.28 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.29) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 49,805 shares in the company, valued at $1,084,254.85. This represents a 3.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Caroline Baumal sold 2,797 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total value of $60,890.69. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 86,527 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,883,692.79. The trade was a 3.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 120,537 shares of company stock worth $2,608,532 in the last quarter. Insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 58,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,019,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital boosted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 11,883 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,000 after acquiring an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System grew its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. State Board of Administration of Florida Retirement System now owns 96,125 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,415,000 after acquiring an additional 530 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank grew its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 8,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $196,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares during the period. Finally, Xponance LLC raised its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Xponance LLC now owns 18,164 shares of the company’s stock valued at $456,000 after acquiring an additional 681 shares during the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Apellis Pharmaceuticals

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat on both EPS and revenue — Apellis reported $0.47 EPS vs. consensus of roughly -$0.39 and revenue of $199.9M, slightly above expectations; the print shows improvement from a loss a year ago and supports the commercialization story. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Management emphasized a strong EMPAVELI launch and commercial momentum, which is the primary growth driver investors will watch going forward. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Company filed slides and the earnings press release and posted full earnings/transcript resources for investors to review the call details and guidance assumptions. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Complete Q4 earnings call transcripts are available (multiple outlets), useful for parsing management commentary on uptake, pricing, and 2026 priorities. Read More. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short‑interest data in the latest bulletin appears unreliable/empty (0 shares reported and NaN changes), so it shouldn’t be used to infer bearish positioning. (Data flagged by exchanges looked anomalous.)
• Negative Sentiment: Revenue was down ~5.9% year‑over‑year despite the EPS beat, and analysts still model a challenging near‑term profit profile (consensus for the year remains negative), leaving the stock exposed if commercial growth slows or guidance disappoints.
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and technicals may be pressuring the stock — APLS trades with a rich P/E and sits below its 50‑ and 200‑day moving averages, so upside hinges on sustained EMPAVELI uptake and clearer forward guidance.

About Apellis Pharmaceuticals

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.