Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Downgraded to “Neutral” Rating by Bank of America

Bank of America cut shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a report published on Friday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Bank of America currently has $23.00 price objective on the stock, down from their prior price objective of $41.00.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Wedbush lowered their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $28.00 to $20.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $55.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apellis Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.37.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of APLS opened at $17.30 on Friday. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $16.65 and a fifty-two week high of $43.99. The firm has a market cap of $2.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.52 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $21.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 3.73 and a current ratio of 4.36.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.74) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.36) by ($0.38). Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 34.97% and a negative return on equity of 103.11%. The business had revenue of $149.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $197.61 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.54) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.10, for a total value of $139,781.90. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 138,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,482,123. This represents a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 6,115 shares of company stock valued at $154,684. Corporate insiders own 6.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APLS. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 18.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 255,897 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,381,000 after acquiring an additional 39,019 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank grew its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 87.0% in the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 21,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $686,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 135.6% during the fourth quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 29,740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $949,000 after purchasing an additional 17,115 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $254,000. Finally, KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 3,862.3% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 104,287 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,328,000 after purchasing an additional 101,655 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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).