Needham & Company LLC Cuts Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Price Target to $29.00

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) had its target price lowered by Needham & Company LLC from $40.00 to $29.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock.

APLS has been the topic of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wedbush cut their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $44.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $41.37.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $17.30 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.17 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.52 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 3.73, a current ratio of 4.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $16.65 and a 52-week high of $43.99. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.12.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.74) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.36) by ($0.38). The firm had revenue of $149.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $197.61 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 103.11% and a negative net margin of 34.97%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.54) EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,569 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.10, for a total value of $139,781.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 138,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,482,123. This represents a 3.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In the last three months, insiders have sold 6,115 shares of company stock valued at $154,684. 6.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of APLS. Barclays PLC raised its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 18.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 255,897 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,381,000 after purchasing an additional 39,019 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank boosted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 87.0% during the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 21,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $686,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 135.6% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 29,740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $949,000 after purchasing an additional 17,115 shares during the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $254,000. Finally, KBC Group NV raised its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 3,862.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 104,287 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,328,000 after buying an additional 101,655 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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).