Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Shares Down 4.4% After Analyst Downgrade

Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) traded down 4.4% on Monday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on the stock from $64.00 to $57.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Apellis Pharmaceuticals traded as low as $35.96 and last traded at $35.96. 67,189 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 95% from the average session volume of 1,475,236 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.62.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on APLS. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $66.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. HC Wainwright lowered their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $92.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $86.00 to $96.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $57.00 to $48.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $71.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, Director A. Sinclair Dunlop sold 37,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $39.24, for a total transaction of $1,451,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 136,998 shares in the company, valued at $5,375,801.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $29,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at approximately $89,000. nVerses Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 300.0% in the second quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 2,100 shares during the period. CWM LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 299.9% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,151 shares of the company’s stock worth $159,000 after acquiring an additional 3,113 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $205,000. 96.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 3.5 %

The company has a current ratio of 5.08, a quick ratio of 4.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $38.14 and a 200 day simple moving average of $44.50. The company has a market cap of $4.42 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.87 and a beta of 0.88.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.30) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.33) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $199.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $190.89 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 52.99% and a negative return on equity of 138.32%. The firm’s revenue was up 110.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.02) EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.29 EPS for the current year.

About Apellis Pharmaceuticals

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).