Cantor Fitzgerald Lowers Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Price Target to $35.00

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) had its price objective reduced by research analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald from $39.00 to $35.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 52.94% from the company’s current price.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Citigroup reduced their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. They set a “peer perform” rating for the company. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apellis Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.65.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

APLS stock opened at $22.89 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.10, a current ratio of 3.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 74.84 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.84 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.41. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $16.10 and a 52 week high of $31.17.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.64. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 4.43% and a return on equity of 18.94%. The firm had revenue of $458.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $364.58 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.46) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 133.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.49, for a total value of $122,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 103,730 shares in the company, valued at $2,540,347.70. This represents a 4.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Timothy Eugene Sullivan sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.03, for a total transaction of $280,300.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 110,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,109,536.08. This represents a 8.27% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $629,150 in the last three months. Insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% during the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 58,856 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,019,000 after buying an additional 465 shares during the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital increased its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 11,883 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank increased its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 6.9% during the third quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 8,674 shares of the company’s stock worth $196,000 after purchasing an additional 563 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 15.6% in the 2nd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,000 after buying an additional 655 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 80.0% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,924 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 855 shares during the period. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc, traded as NASDAQ:APLS, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapies targeting the complement cascade for the treatment of rare and debilitating diseases. The company’s research and development efforts center on modulating complement proteins to address a range of ophthalmologic, hematologic and renal conditions. Apellis leverages its proprietary compstatin technology platform to design targeted inhibitors intended to improve patient outcomes and quality of life.

The company’s lead marketed product, Syfovre (pegcetacoplan), is an intravitreal complement C3 inhibitor approved for geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration, with ongoing investigations in other retinal disorders.