Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Downgraded to Outperform Rating by Raymond James

Raymond James lowered shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) from a strong-buy rating to an outperform rating in a report published on Friday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $52.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $75.00.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Bank of America lowered Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $41.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Friday. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $28.00 to $20.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $44.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.37.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of APLS stock opened at $17.30 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $21.15 and its 200 day moving average is $27.05. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $16.65 and a 1-year high of $43.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 4.36 and a quick ratio of 3.73. The company has a market cap of $2.17 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.52 and a beta of 0.73.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.10, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 6,115 shares of company stock valued at $154,684 in the last quarter. 6.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,130,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $221,551,000 after purchasing an additional 84,331 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. grew its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 32.8% during the first quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 9,554 shares of the company’s stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 2,359 shares during the period. ING Groep NV purchased a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at $4,028,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 14.2% in the first quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 41,533 shares of the company’s stock worth $908,000 after acquiring an additional 5,175 shares during the period. Finally, Assetmark Inc. raised its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 3,938.7% in the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,221 shares during the period. 96.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).