Apellis Pharmaceuticals’ (APLS) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $85.00 target price on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective points to a potential upside of 168.39% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. HC Wainwright decreased their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $92.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $66.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Wedbush upped their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apellis Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $71.67.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $5.06 during trading on Friday, reaching $31.67. 4,258,724 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,495,716. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $31.42 and a 52-week high of $73.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 5.08 and a quick ratio of 4.18. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $38.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $44.00. The company has a market capitalization of $3.84 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.20 and a beta of 0.88.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.30) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.33) by $0.03. The business had revenue of $199.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $190.89 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 138.32% and a negative net margin of 52.99%. The company’s revenue was up 110.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($1.02) EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.29 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director A. Sinclair Dunlop sold 37,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.23, for a total transaction of $1,340,510.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,623,000. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at approximately $29,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at $89,000. nVerses Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 300.0% in the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,000 after acquiring an additional 2,100 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $205,000. Finally, Woodward Diversified Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth $210,000. Institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

About Apellis Pharmaceuticals

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).