Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Cut to Hold at Cantor Fitzgerald

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) was downgraded by investment analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on APLS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $41.00 target price (up from $37.00) on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $19.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Roth Mkm initiated coverage on Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, March 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apellis Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.00.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ APLS opened at $40.39 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.70, a current ratio of 3.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.50 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.71. The firm has a market cap of $5.16 billion, a PE ratio of 310.72 and a beta of 0.26. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $16.10 and a twelve month high of $40.45.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.39) by $0.86. The business had revenue of $199.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $199.28 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 8.20% and a net margin of 2.23%.The business’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.29) EPS. Analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 7,832 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total transaction of $170,502.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 88,531 shares in the company, valued at $1,927,319.87. The trade was a 8.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Timothy Eugene Sullivan sold 10,287 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total transaction of $223,947.99. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 93,901 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,044,224.77. The trade was a 9.87% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 115,537 shares of company stock worth $2,486,082. 6.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 207.4% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 29,559 shares of the company’s stock valued at $667,000 after buying an additional 19,944 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 26.6% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 307,709 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,730,000 after acquiring an additional 64,742 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 4.6% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 222,634 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,869,000 after acquiring an additional 9,747 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth increased its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 118.4% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 21,883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $479,000 after acquiring an additional 11,862 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1,146.2% in the 1st quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 23,976 shares of the company’s stock valued at $522,000 after purchasing an additional 22,052 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Here are the key news stories impacting Apellis Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Biogen agreed to acquire Apellis for about $5.6 billion, offering $41.00/share in cash plus a non-transferable CVR tied to SYFOVRE sales — this is the main driver of the large share rally. Biogen to buy Apellis for $5.6B (Reuters)
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage updates pushed some price targets up to the deal level (Barclays raised its PT to $41 from $24), which supports the takeover valuation. Barclays raises PT to $41 (Benzinga)
• Neutral Sentiment: Several firms reiterated neutral/market‑perform ratings with price targets clustered near $41, reflecting the deal price rather than new upside from standalone operations. Analyst reaffirms (Benzinga)
• Neutral Sentiment: APLS saw extremely high intraday volume and a multi‑day surge after the deal announcement; such spikes often normalize as the market digests deal terms and regulatory/closing risk. APLS moves 135% higher (Zacks)
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple shareholder law firms have opened investigations and flagged potential challenges to the adequacy of the $41 per‑share price and the sale process — this creates legal/closing risk and could pressure sentiment. M&A class action investigation (PR Newswire)
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrades followed the deal news: Needham cut APLS from Buy to Hold and JP Morgan issued a downgrade in subsequent coverage — these moves can weigh on near‑term trading, especially if analysts see limited upside beyond the deal price. Needham downgrades to Hold (American Banking News) JP Morgan downgrades (MSN)

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.