Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Raised to Buy at Bank of America

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) was upgraded by stock analysts at Bank of America from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $28.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America‘s price objective suggests a potential upside of 27.27% from the stock’s current price.

APLS has been the subject of several other reports. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. TD Cowen decreased their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.53.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of APLS stock opened at $22.00 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 3.10 and a current ratio of 3.54. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a fifty-two week low of $16.10 and a fifty-two week high of $31.17. The firm has a market cap of $2.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.97 and a beta of 0.31. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $22.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.49.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.64. The company had revenue of $458.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $364.58 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 18.94% and a net margin of 4.43%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 133.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.46) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Pascal Deschatelets sold 2,277 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,780 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total value of $128,258.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 98,838 shares in the company, valued at $2,193,215.22. This trade represents a 5.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 57,973 shares of company stock valued at $1,237,824. 6.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% during the second quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 58,856 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,019,000 after purchasing an additional 465 shares in the last quarter. Wedmont Private Capital raised its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 11,883 shares of the company’s stock worth $315,000 after buying an additional 468 shares during the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank lifted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 8,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $196,000 after acquiring an additional 563 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 15.6% during the 2nd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 655 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 80.0% in the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,924 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 855 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: BofA upgraded APLS from Neutral to Buy, citing a stronger-than-expected launch trajectory for the company’s newly approved kidney-disease therapy and assigning a $28 price target — signaling notable upside if commercial momentum continues. Apellis upgraded at BofA on launch trajectory for kidney disease therapy
• Positive Sentiment: An analyst note argues Apellis’s current valuation understates Empaveli’s (the newly approved rare-kidney-disease drug) revenue potential after early uptake, supporting a re-rating if prescriptions and payor access scale. Apellis Valuation Ignores Empaveli Potential, Says Analyst
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo trimmed its price target (reducing upside expectations) but kept an Overweight stance — a mixed institutional signal that still leaves the company supported by some buy-side analysts. Wells Fargo lowers price target on Apellis
• Neutral Sentiment: RBC Capital reiterated a Hold rating, which is neutral for near-term flows and may cap upside for investors seeking stronger analyst conviction. RBC Capital Sticks to Its Hold Rating for Apellis Pharmaceuticals (APLS)
• Negative Sentiment: A cluster of insider sales on Jan. 20 (including CEO Cedric Francois, CFO Timothy Sullivan, General Counsel David Watson and other officers) has been disclosed via Form 4 filings — a coordination of sales that can hurt sentiment even if sales are routine diversification. See CEO filing for details. CEO Cedric Francois Form 4

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.