Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Stock

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) had its price objective upped by Morgan Stanley from $25.00 to $26.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on APLS. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $44.00 target price for the company. Citigroup lowered their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $49.00 to $41.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Bank of America downgraded Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $41.00 to $23.00 in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Finally, Raymond James Financial downgraded Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $39.79.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ APLS opened at $17.99 on Wednesday. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $16.10 and a 52 week high of $42.47. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.05 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a quick ratio of 3.62, a current ratio of 4.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $18.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.59.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.74) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.36) by ($0.38). The business had revenue of $149.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $197.61 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 28.83% and a negative return on equity of 99.19%. Apellis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.54) EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.77, for a total value of $93,850.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 133,730 shares in the company, valued at $2,510,112.10. The trade was a 3.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 6.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APLS. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 2,707.1% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 786 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 3,938.7% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,252 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,221 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 357.2% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 918 shares during the period. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. lifted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 21.9% in the first quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. now owns 3,185 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 573 shares during the period. Finally, US Bancorp DE lifted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 70.0% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 1,327 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).