Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Shares Gap Up to $47.93

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) shares gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $47.93, but opened at $50.00. Apellis Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $49.40, with a volume of 140,529 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

APLS has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Raymond James lifted their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 11th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $81.00 price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, February 6th. Wedbush dropped their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $57.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.93.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 4.0 %

The stock’s 50 day moving average is $57.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.35. 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.73) EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.73). The business had revenue of $146.38 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $143.34 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 133.34% and a negative return on equity of 178.60%. The firm’s revenue was up 545.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($1.50) earnings per share. Analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, insider Pascal Deschatelets sold 69,107 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.17, for a total value of $3,743,526.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,115,983 shares in the company, valued at $60,452,799.11. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 781 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.77, for a total transaction of $52,928.37. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 103,390 shares in the company, valued at $7,006,740.30. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Pascal Deschatelets sold 69,107 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.17, for a total transaction of $3,743,526.19. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,115,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,452,799.11. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 381,011 shares of company stock worth $23,463,657. 7.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sippican Capital Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 16,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $958,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 230 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 265 shares during the period. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC acquired a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 2.4% in 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).