HC Wainwright Reiterates Buy Rating for Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS)

HC Wainwright reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) in a research note released on Monday morning, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $92.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on APLS. Wedbush increased their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $67.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an overweight rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a buy rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Raymond James increased their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a strong-buy rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upgraded Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a hold rating to a buy rating and increased their target price for the stock from $68.00 to $80.00 in a report on Monday, February 5th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $77.93.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $47.51 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.60 and a beta of 0.88. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $19.83 and a 52-week high of $94.75. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $60.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $56.97. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.73) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.73). The firm had revenue of $146.38 million for 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 revenue for the quarter was up 545.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($1.50) EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.33 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 4,184 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total transaction of $271,960.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 105,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,830,005. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director A. Sinclair Dunlop sold 18,681 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.18, for a total transaction of $1,068,179.58. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 173,998 shares in the company, valued at approximately $9,949,205.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 4,184 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $65.00, for a total value of $271,960.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 105,077 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,830,005. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 406,651 shares of company stock valued at $25,130,257 in the last ninety days. 7.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Cim Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 3.6% during the 1st quarter. Cim Investment Management Inc. now owns 4,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $313,000 after acquiring an additional 163 shares during the period. Sippican Capital Advisors grew its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 16,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $958,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 3,249 shares of the company’s stock worth $167,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its stake in 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 during the period. Finally, First Horizon Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 69.0% in the 3rd quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 649 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 265 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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).