Stock Traders Buy Large Volume of Apellis Pharmaceuticals Put Options (NASDAQ:APLS)

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) saw some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Investors purchased 6,398 put options on the stock. This is an increase of 521% compared to the average volume of 1,030 put options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

APLS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. HC Wainwright decreased their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $57.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, December 29th. TD Cowen cut their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $24.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.65.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

APLS opened at $20.53 on Friday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $23.39. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $16.10 and a 52-week high of $31.17. The company has a market cap of $2.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.23 and a beta of 0.31. The company has a quick ratio of 3.10, a current ratio of 3.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.64. The firm had revenue of $458.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $364.58 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 18.94% and a net margin of 4.43%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 133.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.46) earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Key Headlines Impacting Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Here are the key news stories impacting Apellis Pharmaceuticals this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo reiterates a Buy on Apellis, highlighting confidence in the company’s longer‑term commercial execution and pipeline potential. Wells Fargo Buy Note
• Positive Sentiment: Analyses note rising SYFOVRE demand and a planned prefilled‑syringe rollout that could improve uptake and margins if execution stays on track — a potential catalyst for future revenue growth. SYFOVRE Demand & Prefilled Syringe
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage highlighting Apellis’ stronger 2025 revenue update and its nephrology expansion frames a constructive valuation story for investors focusing beyond the near‑term sales swing. Valuation After Revenue Update
• Neutral Sentiment: Some analysts remain conflicted on Apellis and peer healthcare names, reflecting divergent views on commercial trajectory and valuation — expect continued mixed analyst commentary. Analysts Conflicted
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks reports APLS fell ~23% over the week after Apellis disclosed preliminary Q4 U.S. net product revenue of $190M and commentary pointing to weaker SYFOVRE sales and mixed Empaveli uptake — the primary near‑term catalyst for the selloff. Zacks Coverage on Revenue/Weak Sales
• Negative Sentiment: Major research houses (Cantor Fitzgerald, Needham) issued more pessimistic forecasts / lowered expectations, intensifying downside pressure from the revenue/sales miss. Cantor Fitzgerald Note Needham Note
• Negative Sentiment: Significant insider selling by senior executives (CEO, CFO, GC and other officers sold shares on Jan 13) has emerged, which can be interpreted negatively by the market despite filings indicating they retain large residual stakes. Example SEC Form 4 (CEO Sale)
• Negative Sentiment: Unusual options activity showed a >500% spike in put purchases (6,398 puts), signaling elevated short‑term bearish bets and hedging demand that can amplify volatility. Source: options flow report

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Nur Nicholson sold 2,618 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total transaction of $58,093.42. Following the sale, the insider owned 81,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,798,410.74. The trade was a 3.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Timothy Eugene Sullivan sold 3,856 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total transaction of $85,564.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 107,080 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,376,105.20. The trade was a 3.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 47,370 shares of company stock valued at $1,110,390 in the last 90 days. 6.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of APLS. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 11,373.8% during the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,704,837 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,821,000 after purchasing an additional 2,681,263 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth approximately $40,977,000. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 46.6% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,976,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,452,000 after buying an additional 1,898,995 shares during the last quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc grew its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 96.0% in the 3rd quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 2,650,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,975,000 after buying an additional 1,298,055 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 386.7% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,604,105 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,585,000 after acquiring an additional 1,274,523 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc, traded as NASDAQ:APLS, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapies targeting the complement cascade for the treatment of rare and debilitating diseases. The company’s research and development efforts center on modulating complement proteins to address a range of ophthalmologic, hematologic and renal conditions. Apellis leverages its proprietary compstatin technology platform to design targeted inhibitors intended to improve patient outcomes and quality of life.

The company’s lead marketed product, Syfovre (pegcetacoplan), is an intravitreal complement C3 inhibitor approved for geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration, with ongoing investigations in other retinal disorders.