Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Given New $21.00 Price Target at Royal Bank Of Canada

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) had its price target lowered by equities research analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $22.00 to $21.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “sector perform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s target price indicates a potential downside of 0.98% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Mizuho dropped their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $24.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. TD Cowen cut their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Bank of America upgraded Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, January 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.67.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:APLS traded down $0.92 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $21.21. The company had a trading volume of 314,063 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,118,350. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 3.54 and a quick ratio of 3.10. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $16.10 and a 1-year high of $30.48. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $23.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.84. The firm has a market cap of $2.68 billion, a PE ratio of 68.32 and a beta of 0.26.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Pascal Deschatelets sold 5,928 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total value of $129,052.56. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,151,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,065,586.14. This represents a 0.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Timothy Eugene Sullivan sold 10,287 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total value of $223,947.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 93,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,044,224.77. The trade was a 9.87% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 120,537 shares of company stock worth $2,608,532 over the last ninety days. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,674,865 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,153,000 after purchasing an additional 687,471 shares during the period. Deep Track Capital LP lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 1,000,382 shares during the last quarter. RTW Investments LP acquired a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $192,589,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 46.6% during the second 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. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,613,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,890,000 after acquiring an additional 575,802 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Apellis Pharmaceuticals

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

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat on the bottom line and roughly in-line revenue; EPS of $0.47 topped consensus (-$0.39) and revenue of $199.9M roughly matched expectations — the print reduces near-term execution risk and highlights improving profitability. GlobeNewswire: Q4 results
• Positive Sentiment: Broker upgrade/price-target lift: HC Wainwright raised its target to $48 and reiterates a Buy, signaling bullish analyst conviction that could support upside if commercial momentum continues. Benzinga: HC Wainwright PT raise
• Neutral Sentiment: Management provided detail on the Q4 call and corporate slide deck — useful for modeling product uptake (EMPAVELI) and expense cadence but no major new guidance disclosed in headlines. Yahoo Finance: Q4 call transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple call transcripts and coverage (Seeking Alpha, InsiderMonkey, Zacks) provide color — analysts and sell‑side will update models; these items increase information availability but are unlikely to move the stock materially absent new guidance. Seeking Alpha: Call transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Wedbush cut its price target to $18 and moved to a Neutral rating — the new target is below current levels and represents downside risk if other firms follow. TickerReport/Benzinga: Wedbush PT cut
• Negative Sentiment: Top-line softness: revenue declined ~5.9% YoY in the quarter and street models remain cautious (some analysts still foresee negative full‑year EPS), leaving upside dependent on sustained product uptake and margin improvements. Zacks: Q4 results analysis

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.