Wells Fargo & Company Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Stock Price

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) had its price target dropped by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $29.00 to $26.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s target price would indicate a potential upside of 30.23% from the stock’s previous close.

APLS has been the subject of a number of other reports. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $24.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. They issued a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $19.00 price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apellis Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.29.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:APLS traded up $0.03 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $19.97. The stock had a trading volume of 807,296 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,147,614. 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 stock has a market cap of $2.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.41 and a beta of 0.31. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $22.91 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.51. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $16.10 and a fifty-two week high of $31.17.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $364.58 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.46) EPS. Apellis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 133.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, insider Pascal Deschatelets sold 2,277 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total value of $50,526.63. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,158,219 shares in the company, valued at $25,700,879.61. The trade was a 0.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,780 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total value of $128,258.20. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 98,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,193,215.22. This trade represents a 5.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 37,370 shares of company stock valued at $830,090 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in 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 in the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 206.8% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 1,373 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 64.1% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after acquiring an additional 857 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 141.2% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,570 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP bought a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth approximately $64,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

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.