Wedbush Has Lowered Expectations for Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Stock Price

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) had its target price decreased by stock analysts at Wedbush from $20.00 to $18.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “neutral” rating on the stock. Wedbush’s price objective points to a potential downside of 16.82% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on APLS. Barclays started coverage on Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, November 6th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $32.61.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $21.64 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.07 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.77 billion, a PE ratio of 166.47 and a beta of 0.26. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $16.10 and a 52-week high of $30.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a quick ratio of 3.10 and a current ratio of 3.14.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Timothy Eugene Sullivan sold 10,287 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 93,901 shares in the company, valued at $2,044,224.77. This trade represents a 9.87% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Pascal Deschatelets sold 5,928 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total transaction of $129,052.56. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,151,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,065,586.14. The trade was a 0.51% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 120,537 shares of company stock valued at $2,608,532. 6.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,674,865 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,153,000 after buying an additional 687,471 shares during the period. Deep Track Capital LP increased its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 14.3% in 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 in the last quarter. RTW Investments LP purchased a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $192,589,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 46.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,976,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,452,000 after acquiring an additional 1,898,995 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 14.3% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,613,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,890,000 after purchasing an additional 575,802 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Key Apellis Pharmaceuticals News

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

• Positive Sentiment: HC Wainwright raised its long‑range outlook (FY2030 EPS to $1.97), reiterated a “Buy” and lifted its price target to $48 — a strongly bullish signal that likely supported buying interest this session. HC Wainwright raises target to $48
• Neutral Sentiment: Citigroup trimmed its target from $45 to $44 but kept a “Buy” rating — a modestly cautious move that is unlikely to materially change conviction among bullish investors. Citigroup price target update
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings/transcript sources for the Feb. 24 Q4 call are circulating (full transcript available) — the call contains detail investors will parse for guidance and product trends; headlines are mixed across outlets. Earnings call transcript (Yahoo) Earnings call transcript (InsiderMonkey)
• Neutral Sentiment: Short‑interest data released shows “0 shares” and NaN changes — this is almost certainly a reporting or processing error and should not be treated as a genuine change in borrow/short pressure.
• Negative Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada cut its target to $21 and moved to “Sector Perform,” which signals lower near‑term expectations and adds selling pressure for more cautious holders. RBC target cut Coverage note
• Negative Sentiment: Wedbush lowered its target to $18 and moved to “Neutral,” another sign of reduced analyst conviction that could weigh on the stock if follow‑through selling occurs. Wedbush target cut Coverage note
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks flagged a wider‑than‑expected Q4 loss and an 8% slip in Syfovre sales (though total revenue beat estimates and Empaveli grew on a new indication) — mixed results that may keep some investors cautious until product trends clarify. Zacks earnings summary

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.