JPMorgan Chase & Co. Reaffirms Neutral Rating for Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS)

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reiterated by equities research analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $41.00 price target on the stock, up from their prior price target of $37.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co.‘s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 1.45% from the company’s previous close.

APLS has been the topic of a number of other reports. Raymond James Financial restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday. Needham & Company LLC downgraded Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $41.00 price target (down from $44.00) on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $35.00 to $31.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.00.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of APLS traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $40.42. The stock had a trading volume of 23,729,167 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,578,295. The business has a fifty day moving average of $21.11 and a 200 day moving average of $22.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 2.70 and a current ratio of 3.14. The firm has a market cap of $5.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 310.68 and a beta of 0.26. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $16.10 and a 12 month high of $40.45.

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

Insider Transactions at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 7,832 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total value of $170,502.64. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 88,531 shares in the company, valued at $1,927,319.87. The trade was a 8.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Nur Nicholson sold 7,725 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total transaction of $168,173.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 71,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,548,238.86. The trade was a 9.80% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 115,537 shares of company stock valued at $2,486,082 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 207.4% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 29,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $667,000 after purchasing an additional 19,944 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 26.6% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 307,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $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 raised its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% during the 1st 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 in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth lifted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 118.4% in the 1st quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 21,883 shares of the company’s stock worth $479,000 after buying an additional 11,862 shares during the period. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1,146.2% in 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. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Apellis Pharmaceuticals News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Biogen agreed to acquire Apellis for $41.00 per share in cash (≈$5.6B) plus a nontransferable CVR that could pay up to $4 total if SYFOVRE sales targets are met — the deal provides an immediate, near‑term cash value floor for shareholders and explains the stock rally. Biogen to Acquire Apellis (GlobeNewswire)
• Positive Sentiment: APLS traded with very high volume and posted a dramatic intraday gain (reported ~135% move) as the market repriced the shares to reflect the takeover premium and CVR consideration. APLS Moves 135.4% Higher (Zacks)
• Neutral Sentiment: Several brokers reaffirmed neutral/market‑perform ratings with price targets clustered around the deal price (Citigroup and HC Wainwright at $41; Raymond James market perform), signaling limited analyst upside now that the cash offer sets a near-term valuation. Broker Notes (Benzinga)
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple shareholder law firms (Kahn Swick & Foti, Ademi, Halper Sadeh) have opened investigations into whether the $41 deal price and process are fair — potential litigation could seek a higher price, delay closing, or add deal risk/transaction costs. Investor Alert: KSF Investigation (BusinessWire)
• Negative Sentiment: Independent pressures: a Needham downgrade to hold and prior price‑target cuts (Cantor Fitzgerald) reflect differing views on Apellis’ standalone outlook and suggest some sell‑side skepticism about longer‑term upside absent a competing bid or strong SYFOVRE performance. Analyst Changes (TickerReport)

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.