Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Reaches New 1-Year Low - Here's Why

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week low during trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $22.99 and last traded at $23.24, with a volume of 57192 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.27.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Wedbush cut their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Wednesday. 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's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $45.59.

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Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 4.36 and a quick ratio of 3.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.51 billion, a PE ratio of -9.84 and a beta of 0.85. The business's 50 day moving average is $26.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $29.16.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.29) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.37) by $0.08. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 34.97% and a negative return on equity of 103.11%. The company had revenue of $212.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.92 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.73) EPS. The firm's revenue was up 45.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

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

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

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