Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Price Target Raised to $46.00 at Citigroup

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) had its price objective lifted by Citigroup from $41.00 to $46.00 in a research note released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $28.00 to $20.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Nine research 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.26.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of APLS opened at $18.95 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.38 billion, a PE ratio of -10.59 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a current ratio of 4.08 and a quick ratio of 3.62. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $16.10 and a 1-year high of $41.94. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $18.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.93.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.74) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.36) by ($0.38). The company 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 quarterly revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.54) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.55, for a total value of $97,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 128,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,516,671.50. This represents a 3.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Cedric Francois sold 19,725 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.21, for a total transaction of $398,642.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 331,605 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,701,737.05. The trade was a 5.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 169,090 shares of company stock valued at $3,403,832. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in APLS. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,564,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $504,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,046,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,569,000 after purchasing an additional 230,450 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,662,000. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 16.7% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 347,854 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,100,000 after purchasing an additional 49,901 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).