Stifel Nicolaus Cuts Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Price Target to $48.00

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) had its price target decreased by Stifel Nicolaus from $55.00 to $48.00 in a report released on Friday,Benzinga reports. Stifel Nicolaus currently has a buy rating on the stock.

APLS has been the subject of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered 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 note on Wednesday, November 5th. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, October 15th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $32.00 price objective on the stock. HC Wainwright lowered their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $57.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target 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. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apellis Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.94.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of APLS opened at $24.64 on Friday. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $16.10 and a 1 year high of $35.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 3.54 and a quick ratio of 3.10. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $23.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.65. The firm has a market cap of $3.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 79.47 and a beta of 0.37.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.64. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 4.43% and a return on equity of 18.94%. The firm had revenue of $458.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $364.58 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.46) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 133.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.49, for a total value of $122,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 103,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,540,347.70. This trade represents a 4.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director A. Sinclair Dunlop sold 31,092 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.72, for a total transaction of $737,502.24. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,837 shares in the company, valued at $91,013.64. This represents a 89.01% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 56,092 shares of company stock worth $1,366,652 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 6.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of APLS. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 641,397 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,027,000 after acquiring an additional 37,741 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at approximately $10,765,000. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 537.0% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 38,903 shares of the company’s stock valued at $851,000 after purchasing an additional 32,796 shares in the last quarter. Kaufman Rossin Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth $209,000. Finally, AlphaQuest LLC raised its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 226.5% in the first quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 56,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,227,000 after purchasing an additional 38,918 shares in the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.