Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Stock Price Up 4.9%

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)’s stock price rose 4.9% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $58.48 and last traded at $58.25. Approximately 232,211 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 1,561,178 shares. The stock had previously closed at $55.53.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on APLS. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Robert W. Baird restated an “outperform” rating and set a $81.00 price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Wells Fargo & Company cut Apellis Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $67.00 to $54.00 in a report on Thursday, December 14th. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the company from $52.00 to $85.00 in a research note on Tuesday, December 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.93.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $7.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.12 and a beta of 0.90. The company has a current ratio of 3.10, a quick ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $63.46 and its 200 day moving average is $55.83.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.73) EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.73). The company had revenue of $146.38 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $143.34 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 178.60% and a negative net margin of 133.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 545.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($1.50) earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, insider Mark Jeffrey Delong sold 9,913 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.90, for a total transaction of $564,049.70. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 54,693 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,112,031.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, CFO Timothy Eugene Sullivan sold 2,235 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.81, for a total transaction of $149,320.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 99,226 shares in the company, valued at $6,629,289.06. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Mark Jeffrey Delong sold 9,913 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.90, for a total value of $564,049.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 54,693 shares in the company, valued at $3,112,031.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 351,923 shares of company stock worth $22,361,395 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 7.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,555,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $572,003,000 after buying an additional 85,701 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. grew its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,923,920 shares of the company’s stock worth $300,993,000 after buying an additional 58,208 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 5,842,660 shares of the company’s stock worth $302,124,000 after purchasing an additional 326,537 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 66.9% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,590,040 shares of the company’s stock valued at $302,760,000 after buying an additional 1,840,498 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 79.8% during the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,542,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,746,000 after acquiring an additional 1,571,606 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

About Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of therapeutic compounds through the inhibition of the complement system for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. It offers EMPAVELI for the treatment of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, C3 glomerulopathy and immune complex membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis, and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation-associated thrombotic microangiopathy; and SYFOVRE for treating geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration and geographic atrophy (GA).