Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Sets New 1-Year Low – Time to Sell?

Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) hit a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $18.21 and last traded at $19.45, with a volume of 351369 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $19.97.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on APLS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Wedbush decreased their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.59.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.49 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.75 and a beta of 0.85. 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 firm has a 50-day moving average price of $26.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $28.96.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last issued 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 business had revenue of $212.50 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $197.92 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 34.97% and a negative return on equity of 103.11%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 45.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.73) earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,569 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.10, for a total value of $139,781.90. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 138,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,482,123. The trade was a 3.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Timothy Eugene Sullivan sold 3,088 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.43, for a total value of $93,967.84. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 129,211 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,931,890.73. This trade represents a 2.33 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 63,238 shares of company stock worth $1,857,510 in the last 90 days. 6.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boxer Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $45,504,000. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 266,361.5% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,385,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,214,000 after purchasing an additional 1,385,080 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 969.6% in the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,518,827 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,465,000 after buying an additional 1,376,832 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,014,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. purchased a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,461,000. Institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

About Apellis Pharmaceuticals

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).