Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms Buy Rating for Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS)

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS)‘s stock had its “buy” rating restated by equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC in a report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $85.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 77.45% from the company’s previous close.

Other equities research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $106.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $81.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, March 4th. Finally, Wedbush lowered their price target 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. 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.93.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of APLS traded down $2.03 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $47.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 434,296 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,470,313. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.74 and a beta of 0.88. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $19.83 and a one year high of $94.75. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $58.61 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $57.37. 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 released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.73) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $143.34 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($1.50) earnings per share. Apellis Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 545.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.33 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, insider Nur Nicholson sold 835 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals 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 $53,556.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 67,507 shares in the company, valued at $4,329,898.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, insider Nur Nicholson sold 835 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.14, for a total transaction of $53,556.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 67,507 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,329,898.98. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Cedric Francois sold 2,843 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 317,624 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,372,403.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 381,011 shares of company stock worth $23,463,657 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 7.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sippican Capital Advisors grew its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 16,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $958,000 after purchasing an additional 170 shares during the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina raised its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 43,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,666,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares in the last quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 69.0% during the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the period. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 23,211 shares of the company’s stock worth $883,000 after buying an additional 541 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

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).