Pascal Deschatelets Sells 5,928 Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Stock

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) insider Pascal Deschatelets sold 5,928 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total value of $129,052.56. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,151,382 shares in the company, valued at $25,065,586.14. This trade represents a 0.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Pascal Deschatelets also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Tuesday, January 20th, Pascal Deschatelets sold 909 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.79, for a total value of $17,989.11.
• On Tuesday, January 13th, Pascal Deschatelets sold 2,277 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total value of $50,526.63.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of APLS stock opened at $21.76 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $23.02 and its 200 day moving average is $23.56. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.10 and a 1-year high of $30.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 3.54 and a quick ratio of 3.10. The company has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.18 and a beta of 0.31.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $458.58 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $364.58 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.46) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 133.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APLS. Deep Track Capital LP lifted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 14.3% during the 3rd quarter. Deep Track Capital LP now owns 8,000,382 shares of the company’s stock worth $181,049,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,382 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 46.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,976,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,452,000 after purchasing an additional 1,898,995 shares during the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 11,373.8% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,704,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,821,000 after purchasing an additional 2,681,263 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% in the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,661,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,076,000 after buying an additional 184,292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc increased its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 96.0% in the 3rd quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 2,650,230 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,975,000 after buying an additional 1,298,055 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: BofA upgraded APLS to Buy and cited a stronger-than-expected launch trajectory for Apellis’s newly approved kidney-disease therapy, assigning a $28 price target — a vote of confidence that implies material upside if commercial momentum continues. Apellis Raised to Buy at Bank of America
• Positive Sentiment: An analyst note highlights early uptake of Empaveli and argues current valuation understates its revenue potential; continued strong launch metrics could drive a re‑rating and support upside from current levels. Apellis Valuation Ignores Empaveli Potential, Says Analyst
• Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo trimmed its price target (from $29 to $26) but kept an Overweight rating — a mixed signal that reduces upside expectations while leaving institutional support intact. Wells Fargo lowers price target on Apellis
• Neutral Sentiment: RBC Capital reiterated a Hold rating, a neutral stance that may temper buying interest from investors seeking stronger analyst conviction. RBC Capital Sticks to Its Hold Rating for Apellis Pharmaceuticals (APLS)
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple senior insiders — including CEO Cedric Francois, CFO Timothy Sullivan, General Counsel David Watson and others — filed Form 4 sales on Jan. 20–22 (large, clustered disposals totaling many tens of thousands of shares). Even if routine (diversification or option-related), clustered executive selling typically weighs on near‑term sentiment and likely contributed to the stock decline. See CEO filing for details. CEO Cedric Francois Form 4

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APLS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, December 29th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $24.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.53.

About Apellis Pharmaceuticals

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.