Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Shares Gap Up - Time to Buy?

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) shares gapped up prior to trading 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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on APLS. 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 report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wedbush upped their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Bank of America lowered their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $61.00 to $47.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. HC Wainwright lowered their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $83.00 to $57.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $85.00 to $83.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 9th. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apellis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $51.06.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 10.7 %

The firm has a market cap of $3.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.28 and a beta of 0.87. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average of $29.45 and a 200-day moving average of $35.90.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.46) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.32) by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $196.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $200.00 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 34.97% and a negative return on equity of 103.11%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 78.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($1.17) EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director A. Sinclair Dunlop sold 37,000 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,623,000. This trade represents a 27.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Edgestream Partners L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at about $942,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 42.2% during the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 134,536 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,161,000 after purchasing an additional 39,931 shares during the last quarter. Profund Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 90.7% during the 2nd quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 42,968 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,648,000 after purchasing an additional 20,435 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC boosted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 137.8% during the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 123,628 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,742,000 after purchasing an additional 71,650 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank acquired a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at about $588,000. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).