Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Sets New 1-Year High – Here’s Why

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) reached a new 52-week high during trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $40.43 and last traded at $40.41, with a volume of 18150486 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $17.09.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on APLS shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $35.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apellis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.42.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 136.1%

The firm has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a PE ratio of 310.07 and a beta of 0.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 3.14 and a quick ratio of 2.70. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $20.72 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.47.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.39) by $0.86. The firm had revenue of $199.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $199.28 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 8.20% and a net margin of 2.23%.The firm’s revenue was down 5.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.29) earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, insider Caroline Baumal sold 2,797 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total value of $60,890.69. Following the transaction, the insider owned 86,527 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,883,692.79. The trade was a 3.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CAO James George Chopas sold 2,064 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total transaction of $44,933.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 49,805 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,084,254.85. This represents a 3.98% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 115,537 shares of company stock worth $2,486,082. Insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 206.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,373 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 141.2% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,570 shares during the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 64.1% in the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after buying an additional 857 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth about $64,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 338.5% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 4,191 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

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.