Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Downgraded by William Blair to Hold

William Blair cut shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday. HC Wainwright reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $41.00 price objective (down from $48.00) on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “sell” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, January 12th. Needham & Company LLC lowered Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apellis Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.00.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $40.39 on Tuesday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $21.50 and a 200-day moving average of $22.71. The company has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 310.72 and a beta of 0.26. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $16.10 and a 1 year high of $40.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 3.14 and a quick ratio of 2.70.

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

Insider Transactions at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 27,192 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total transaction of $591,969.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 286,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,227,199.65. This trade represents a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Nur Nicholson sold 7,725 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 transaction of $168,173.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 71,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,548,238.86. The trade was a 9.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 115,537 shares of company stock worth $2,486,082. Company insiders own 6.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

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

Apellis Pharmaceuticals News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Biogen agreed to acquire Apellis for about $5.6 billion, offering $41.00/share in cash plus a non-transferable CVR tied to SYFOVRE sales — this is the main driver of the large share rally. Biogen to buy Apellis for $5.6B (Reuters)
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage updates pushed some price targets up to the deal level (Barclays raised its PT to $41 from $24), which supports the takeover valuation. Barclays raises PT to $41 (Benzinga)
• Neutral Sentiment: Several firms reiterated neutral/market‑perform ratings with price targets clustered near $41, reflecting the deal price rather than new upside from standalone operations. Analyst reaffirms (Benzinga)
• Neutral Sentiment: APLS saw extremely high intraday volume and a multi‑day surge after the deal announcement; such spikes often normalize as the market digests deal terms and regulatory/closing risk. APLS moves 135% higher (Zacks)
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple shareholder law firms have opened investigations and flagged potential challenges to the adequacy of the $41 per‑share price and the sale process — this creates legal/closing risk and could pressure sentiment. M&A class action investigation (PR Newswire)
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrades followed the deal news: Needham cut APLS from Buy to Hold and JP Morgan issued a downgrade in subsequent coverage — these moves can weigh on near‑term trading, especially if analysts see limited upside beyond the deal price. Needham downgrades to Hold (American Banking News) JP Morgan downgrades (MSN)

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.