Mark Jeffrey Delong Sells 1,334 Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Stock

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) insider Mark Jeffrey Delong sold 1,334 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.79, for a total value of $26,399.86. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 81,724 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,617,317.96. The trade was a 1.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

Mark Jeffrey Delong also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, January 13th, Mark Jeffrey Delong sold 1,780 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total value of $39,498.20.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $22.00 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $22.99 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.49. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.10 and a 12 month high of $31.17. The company has a market capitalization of $2.78 billion, a PE ratio of 70.97 and a beta of 0.31. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.64. The company had revenue of $458.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $364.58 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 18.94% and a net margin of 4.43%.The firm’s revenue was up 133.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.46) earnings per share. Analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on APLS. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, December 15th. Bank of America upgraded Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.53.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in APLS. Deep Track Capital LP lifted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter. Deep Track Capital LP now owns 8,000,382 shares of the company’s stock valued at $181,049,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,382 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 46.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,976,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,452,000 after purchasing an additional 1,898,995 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 11,373.8% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,704,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,821,000 after purchasing an additional 2,681,263 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% in the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,661,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,076,000 after buying an additional 184,292 shares during the period. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 96.0% during the 3rd quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 2,650,230 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,975,000 after buying an additional 1,298,055 shares in the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: BofA upgraded APLS from Neutral to Buy, citing a stronger-than-expected launch trajectory for the company’s newly approved kidney-disease therapy and assigning a $28 price target — signaling notable upside if commercial momentum continues. Apellis upgraded at BofA on launch trajectory for kidney disease therapy
• Positive Sentiment: An analyst note argues Apellis’s current valuation understates Empaveli’s (the newly approved rare-kidney-disease drug) revenue potential after early uptake, supporting a re-rating if prescriptions and payor access scale. Apellis Valuation Ignores Empaveli Potential, Says Analyst
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo trimmed its price target (reducing upside expectations) but kept an Overweight stance — a mixed institutional signal that still leaves the company supported by some buy-side analysts. Wells Fargo lowers price target on Apellis
• Neutral Sentiment: RBC Capital reiterated a Hold rating, which is neutral for near-term flows and may cap upside for investors seeking stronger analyst conviction. RBC Capital Sticks to Its Hold Rating for Apellis Pharmaceuticals (APLS)
• Negative Sentiment: A cluster of insider sales on Jan. 20 (including CEO Cedric Francois, CFO Timothy Sullivan, General Counsel David Watson and other officers) has been disclosed via Form 4 filings — a coordination of sales that can hurt sentiment even if sales are routine diversification. See CEO filing for details. CEO Cedric Francois Form 4

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.