Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Hits New 12-Month Low – Time to Sell?

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)’s stock price hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $22.99 and last traded at $23.24, with a volume of 57192 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $24.27.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on APLS. Wedbush cut their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.53.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $2.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.17 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 3.73 and a current ratio of 4.36. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $26.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $29.25.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.29) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.37) by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $212.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $197.92 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 34.97% and a negative return on equity of 103.11%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 45.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.73) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, insider Caroline Baumal sold 2,816 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.81, for a total value of $95,208.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 55,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,878,483.60. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Timothy Eugene Sullivan sold 2,170 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.70, for a total transaction of $62,279.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,100 shares in the company, valued at $2,528,470. This trade represents a 2.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,054 shares of company stock worth $1,952,719 in the last three months. Insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,222,222 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,011,000 after buying an additional 1,111,111 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,046,025 shares of the company’s stock valued at $320,569,000 after acquiring an additional 230,450 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 23.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,884,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,036,000 after purchasing an additional 735,160 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 51.6% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,760,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,084,000 after purchasing an additional 939,289 shares during the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 127.2% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,856,442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,239,000 after purchasing an additional 1,039,182 shares during the period. 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).