Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Shares Gap Up to $47.93

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)’s stock price gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $47.93, but opened at $50.00. Apellis Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $49.40, with a volume of 140,529 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Mizuho restated a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, March 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 9th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.93.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The company has a market cap of $6.01 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.31 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $58.21 and a 200-day moving average of $57.30. The company has a quick ratio of 2.50, a current ratio of 3.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.73) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.73). Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 178.60% and a negative net margin of 133.34%. The company had revenue of $146.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $143.34 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.50) earnings per share. Apellis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 545.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.33 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 2,843 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.14, for a total value of $182,350.02. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 317,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,372,403.36. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, insider Nur Nicholson sold 835 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.14, for a total transaction of $53,556.90. Following the sale, the insider now owns 67,507 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,329,898.98. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Cedric Francois sold 2,843 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.14, for a total value of $182,350.02. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 317,624 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,372,403.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 381,011 shares of company stock valued at $23,463,657 over the last quarter. 7.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in APLS. Peregrine Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth $5,447,000. Simplicity Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth $4,599,000. Summit Trail Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth $262,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 94.8% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 115,453 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,786,000 after acquiring an additional 56,178 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 14.4% in the 1st quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 14,068 shares of the company’s stock worth $827,000 after acquiring an additional 1,766 shares during the last quarter. 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).