Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm issued an equal weight rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock.

Several other equities research analysts have also issued reports on APLS. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $71.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $92.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Mizuho cut their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $63.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.94.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 10.9 %

Shares of NASDAQ APLS opened at $30.77 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.16 and a beta of 0.87. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $24.34 and a 1-year high of $73.80. The business’s 50 day moving average is $28.92 and its two-hundred day moving average is $35.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 4.36 and a quick ratio of 3.73.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.46) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.32) by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $196.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $200.00 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 78.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($1.17) EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director A. Sinclair Dunlop sold 37,000 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.23, for a total transaction of $1,340,510.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,623,000. This trade represents a 27.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of APLS. Wolverine Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth about $27,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at about $56,000. KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, nVerses Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 300.0% in the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,000 after buying an additional 2,100 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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).