Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Reaches New 1-Year Low – What’s Next?

Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) hit a new 52-week low on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $26.67 and last traded at $26.69, with a volume of 675431 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.40.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on APLS. Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, September 20th. UBS Group cut their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Jefferies Financial Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, Wedbush raised their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.20.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 4.18 and a current ratio of 5.08. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.91 and a beta of 0.87. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $34.92 and its 200-day simple moving average is $40.70.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.30) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.33) by $0.03. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 138.32% and a negative net margin of 52.99%. The business had revenue of $199.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $190.89 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($1.02) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 110.2% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director A. Sinclair Dunlop sold 37,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.23, for a total value of $1,340,510.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,623,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 44.2% during the 4th quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. now owns 885,165 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,986,000 after purchasing an additional 271,122 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 38.0% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 2,460,339 shares of the company’s stock worth $147,277,000 after acquiring an additional 677,098 shares in the last quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $12,558,000. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $222,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,555,678 shares of the company’s stock valued at $572,003,000 after purchasing an additional 85,701 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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).