Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Earns Sector Perform Rating from Analysts at Royal Bank of Canada

Equities researchers at Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) in a research note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage set a “sector perform” rating and a $25.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target indicates a potential downside of 6.30% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $96.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 23rd. UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. William Blair began coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $64.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, September 13th. Five research 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $65.41.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of APLS stock opened at $26.68 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $33.22 and a 200-day moving average of $38.51. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $26.28 and a one year high of $73.80. The stock has a market cap of $3.24 billion, a PE ratio of -7.71 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 5.08 and a quick ratio of 4.18.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.30) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.33) by $0.03. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 52.99% and a negative return on equity of 138.32%. The company had revenue of $199.70 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190.89 million. During the same period last year, the business posted ($1.02) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 110.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 value of $1,340,510.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,623,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 6.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 64.2% during the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 23,420 shares of the company’s stock worth $675,000 after buying an additional 9,160 shares during the last quarter. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $384,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $402,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 21.6% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $130,000 after acquiring an additional 781 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 191.9% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,144,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,845,000 after purchasing an additional 1,409,707 shares during 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).