Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Shares Gap Up – Here’s What Happened

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) shares gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $26.18, but opened at $28.50. Apellis Pharmaceuticals shares last traded at $28.80, with a volume of 629,975 shares changing hands.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APLS has been the topic of several research reports. Wedbush upped their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $43.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $71.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, HC Wainwright cut their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $83.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $51.06.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 3.73, a current ratio of 4.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.42 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.54 and a beta of 0.87. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $29.45 and a 200-day moving average of $35.90.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.46) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.32) by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $196.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $200.00 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 103.11% and a negative net margin of 34.97%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 78.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($1.17) earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

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

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Braidwell LP lifted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 410.8% in the third quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 3,125,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,130,000 after buying an additional 2,513,383 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 191.9% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,144,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,845,000 after buying an additional 1,409,707 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,810,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,229,000 after buying an additional 22,609 shares during the last quarter. Fiera Capital Corp lifted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 47.7% in the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 1,401,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,750,000 after buying an additional 452,753 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 956,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,581,000 after buying an additional 9,328 shares during the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).