Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Shares Gap Down to $48.81

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $48.81, but opened at $45.10. Apellis Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $45.01, with a volume of 395,298 shares.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on APLS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $68.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Wedbush decreased their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $57.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Citigroup cut their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Raymond James raised their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $76.67.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $5.16 billion, a PE ratio of -12.29 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a quick ratio of 2.50, a current ratio of 3.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company’s fifty day moving average is $53.91 and its 200 day moving average is $57.32.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.54) EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.54). Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 133.34% and a negative return on equity of 178.60%. The business had revenue of $172.33 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $163.37 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.56) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 284.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 3,962 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.77, for a total value of $268,504.74. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 313,662 shares in the company, valued at $21,256,873.74. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, insider Pascal Deschatelets sold 78,907 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $42.35, for a total value of $3,341,711.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,115,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,261,880.05. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Cedric Francois sold 3,962 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.77, for a total value of $268,504.74. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 313,662 shares in the company, valued at $21,256,873.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 455,334 shares of company stock worth $26,511,351 over the last quarter. 7.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 37.1% during the 1st quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 27,079 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,592,000 after buying an additional 7,330 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 11.6% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 8,452 shares of the company’s stock valued at $497,000 after acquiring an additional 881 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1,300.8% during the 1st quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,000 after acquiring an additional 3,330 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 57.4% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 39,864 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,343,000 after acquiring an additional 14,531 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lisanti Capital Growth LLC increased its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 92.7% in the 1st quarter. Lisanti Capital Growth LLC now owns 89,210 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,244,000 after purchasing an additional 42,905 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of therapeutic compounds through the inhibition of the complement system for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. It offers EMPAVELI for the treatment of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, C3 glomerulopathy and immune complex membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis, and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation-associated thrombotic microangiopathy; and SYFOVRE for treating geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration and geographic atrophy (GA).