Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Reaches New 12-Month High Following Analyst Upgrade

Posted by Defense World Staff on May 6th, 2023

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS – Get Rating)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during trading on Friday after Bank of America raised their price target on the stock from $112.00 to $114.00. The company traded as high as $92.47 and last traded at $91.85, with a volume of 779648 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $84.37.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on APLS. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $51.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, April 17th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $124.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 14th. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $91.00 to $88.00 in a research note on Thursday, March 9th. Finally, HC Wainwright boosted their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $100.00 in a research note on Friday. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $87.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, insider Pascal Deschatelets sold 12,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.45, for a total value of $653,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,006,756 shares in the company, valued at $54,817,864.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 30,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $62.74, for a total transaction of $1,882,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,144,591 shares in the company, valued at $71,811,639.34. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Pascal Deschatelets sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.45, for a total transaction of $653,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,006,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $54,817,864.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 110,646 shares of company stock valued at $7,820,304. Corporate insiders own 8.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APLS. IFP Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 49,525.0% in the first quarter. IFP Advisors Inc now owns 1,985 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,981 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 391.2% during the first quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,110 shares of the company’s stock worth $56,000 after acquiring an additional 884 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC increased its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1,173.0% during the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 942 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 868 shares during the period. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth about $65,000. Finally, Coston McIsaac & Partners bought a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth about $136,000. 87.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 10.4 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $10.83 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.20 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s 50-day moving average is $73.29 and its 200 day moving average is $59.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.55, a current ratio of 4.29 and a quick ratio of 3.78.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 4th. The company reported ($1.56) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.42) by ($0.14). Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 204.77% and a negative net margin of 864.70%. The business had revenue of $44.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $26.10 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($1.42) earnings per share. Apellis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 211.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -5.22 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Apellis Pharmaceuticals

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Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc is a biopharmaceutical company, which engages in the discovery, development, and commercialization of novel therapeutic compounds to treat diseases with high unmet needs. The company was founded by Candace Rose Depp, Pascal Deschatelets, Cedric Francois, and Alec Machiels on September 25, 2009 and is headquartered in Waltham, MA.