Morgan Stanley Initiates Coverage on Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS)

Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) in a research report report published on Thursday, Marketbeat reports. The firm issued an equal weight rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock.

Several other research firms also recently weighed in on APLS. HC Wainwright dropped their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $83.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wedbush upped their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $25.00 price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $92.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $49.94.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 10.9 %

Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $30.77 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.73, a current ratio of 4.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. The company has a market cap of $3.83 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.16 and a beta of 0.87. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $28.92 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.60. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $24.34 and a 52-week high of $73.80.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.46) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.32) by ($0.14). Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 103.11% and a negative net margin of 34.97%. The business had revenue of $196.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $200.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($1.17) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 78.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, Director A. Sinclair Dunlop sold 37,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,623,000. This represents a 27.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wolverine Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $56,000. KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 300.0% in the second 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 in the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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).