Cedric Francois Sells 8,182 Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Stock

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) CEO Cedric Francois sold 8,182 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.79, for a total value of $161,921.78. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 313,237 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,198,960.23. This represents a 2.55% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Cedric Francois also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, January 13th, Cedric Francois sold 10,186 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total value of $226,027.34.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 5.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:APLS opened at $22.00 on Friday. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.10 and a 52-week high of $31.17. The stock has a market cap of $2.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.97 and a beta of 0.31. The business has a fifty day moving average of $22.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.49. The company has a quick ratio of 3.10, a current ratio of 3.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.64. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 4.43% and a return on equity of 18.94%. The firm had revenue of $458.58 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $364.58 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.46) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 133.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on APLS. Bank of America raised shares of 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. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target 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. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.53.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 207.4% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 29,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $667,000 after acquiring an additional 19,944 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 26.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 307,709 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,730,000 after purchasing an additional 64,742 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 222,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,869,000 after purchasing an additional 9,747 shares during the period. Focus Partners Wealth grew its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 118.4% in the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 21,883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $479,000 after purchasing an additional 11,862 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1,146.2% during the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 23,976 shares of the company’s stock worth $522,000 after buying an additional 22,052 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

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.