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

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. HC Wainwright dropped their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $92.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, September 20th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, UBS Group cut their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Four equities research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apellis Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $70.20.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.8 %

The company has a 50-day moving average of $35.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $41.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 5.08 and a quick ratio of 4.18. The company has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a PE ratio of -7.71 and a beta of 0.87.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.30) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.33) by $0.03. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 52.99% and a negative return on equity of 138.32%. The business had revenue of $199.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $190.89 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.02) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 110.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.34 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director A. Sinclair Dunlop sold 37,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the director now owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,623,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of APLS. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 677,098 shares during the last quarter. Iron Triangle Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth $32,329,000. Fiera Capital Corp lifted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 47.7% during the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 1,401,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $53,750,000 after buying an additional 452,753 shares during the period. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. increased its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 44.2% in 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 acquiring an additional 271,122 shares during the period. Finally, Eventide Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth $12,558,000. 96.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).