Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Sets New 1-Year Low – Time to Sell?

Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) hit a new 52-week low on Friday . The stock traded as low as $24.33 and last traded at $25.13, with a volume of 326662 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $26.00.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on APLS shares. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $36.00 price target for the company. in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Oppenheimer dropped their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $92.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.71.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 3.73, a current ratio of 4.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. The firm has a market cap of $3.13 billion, a PE ratio of -12.39 and a beta of 0.96. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $30.04 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $31.62.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last released its earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.29) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.37) by $0.08. The company had revenue of $212.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.92 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 34.97% and a negative return on equity of 103.11%. Apellis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 45.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.73) EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 13,551 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.43, for a total value of $412,356.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 418,519 shares in the company, valued at $12,735,533.17. This trade represents a 3.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO James George Chopas sold 1,096 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.43, for a total value of $33,351.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 48,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,464,839.34. This represents a 2.23 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 60,365 shares of company stock valued at $1,810,479 over the last ninety days. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 23.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,884,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,036,000 after acquiring an additional 735,160 shares during the period. AlphaCentric Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,370,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $824,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 52.9% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 159,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,606,000 after buying an additional 55,282 shares during the period. Finally, Old West Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $2,953,000. 96.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).