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

Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) gapped up before the market opened 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.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on APLS. Wedbush dropped their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $57.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Mizuho reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $60.00 price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Robert W. Baird reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $81.00 price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, March 4th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $77.93.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 4.0 %

The company’s 50-day moving average is $58.21 and its 200-day moving average is $57.30. The firm has a market cap of $6.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.31 and a beta of 0.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 2.50 and a current ratio of 3.10.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Pascal Deschatelets sold 69,107 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.17, for a total transaction of $3,743,526.19. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 1,115,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,452,799.11. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, insider Pascal Deschatelets sold 69,107 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.17, for a total transaction of $3,743,526.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,115,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,452,799.11. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Timothy Eugene Sullivan sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $58.66, for a total value of $234,640.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,338 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,475,207.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 381,011 shares of company stock valued at $23,463,657. 7.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 69.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 564.2% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 677 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 29.3% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 3,028 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,000 after buying an additional 687 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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).