Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday after Bank of America upgraded the stock from a neutral rating to a buy rating. The stock had previously closed at $20.47, but opened at $21.64. Bank of America now has a $28.00 price target on the stock. Apellis Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $21.0130, with a volume of 482,150 shares traded.

A number of other analysts also recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. HC Wainwright cut their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $57.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective 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. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, January 12th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $33.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Nur Nicholson sold 2,618 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total value of $58,093.42. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 81,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,798,410.74. This represents a 3.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,780 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total transaction of $128,258.20. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 98,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,193,215.22. This trade represents a 5.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 37,370 shares of company stock worth $830,090. Insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Deep Track Capital LP boosted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 14.3% in the third 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 stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 46.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,976,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,452,000 after buying an additional 1,898,995 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 11,373.8% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,704,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,821,000 after buying an additional 2,681,263 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% in the 2nd 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 position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 96.0% in the 3rd quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 2,650,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,975,000 after buying an additional 1,298,055 shares during the period. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 2.9%

The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 3.54 and a quick ratio of 3.10. The firm has a market cap of $2.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.96 and a beta of 0.31.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last announced 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. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 18.94% and a net margin of 4.43%.The business had revenue of $458.58 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $364.58 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.46) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 133.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.