Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Now Covered by William Blair

Research analysts at William Blair started coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) in a report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The firm set an “outperform” rating on the stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on APLS. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $96.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, September 20th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $66.00 to $74.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $64.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apellis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.00.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:APLS opened at $27.92 on Wednesday. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $26.28 and a 52 week high of $73.80. The company has a quick ratio of 4.18, a current ratio of 5.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.39 billion, a PE ratio of -8.07 and a beta of 0.87. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $34.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $39.84.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.30) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.33) by $0.03. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 138.32% and a negative net margin of 52.99%. The firm had revenue of $199.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $190.89 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($1.02) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 110.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals 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 value 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. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in APLS. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $89,000. nVerses Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 300.0% during the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $107,000 after buying an additional 2,100 shares during the period. CWM LLC raised its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 299.9% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,151 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,000 after buying an additional 3,113 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 3,330 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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).