Jefferies Financial Group Downgrades Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) to Hold

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) was downgraded by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on APLS. Raymond James Financial downgraded Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “moderate buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 19th. HC Wainwright lowered Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $48.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Wednesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $41.00 target price (up from $37.00) on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Wedbush lowered their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.00.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:APLS opened at $40.39 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 2.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $16.10 and a 12 month high of $40.45. The company has a market capitalization of $5.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 310.72 and a beta of 0.26. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $21.50 and its 200 day moving average is $22.71.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.39) by $0.86. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 2.23% and a return on equity of 8.20%. The business had revenue of $199.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $199.28 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.29) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 27,192 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total transaction of $591,969.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 286,045 shares in the company, valued at $6,227,199.65. This trade represents a 8.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Nur Nicholson sold 7,725 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total value of $168,173.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 71,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,548,238.86. This represents a 9.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 115,537 shares of company stock valued at $2,486,082 over 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 added to or reduced their stakes in APLS. Jones Financial Companies Lllp grew its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 206.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after acquiring an additional 1,373 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 64.1% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 857 shares in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 141.2% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,570 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $64,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 338.5% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,429 shares of the company’s stock valued at $94,000 after buying an additional 4,191 shares during the period. 96.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Apellis Pharmaceuticals News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Biogen agreed to acquire Apellis for about $5.6 billion, offering $41.00/share in cash plus a non-transferable CVR tied to SYFOVRE sales — this is the main driver of the large share rally. Biogen to buy Apellis for $5.6B (Reuters)
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage updates pushed some price targets up to the deal level (Barclays raised its PT to $41 from $24), which supports the takeover valuation. Barclays raises PT to $41 (Benzinga)
• Neutral Sentiment: Several firms reiterated neutral/market‑perform ratings with price targets clustered near $41, reflecting the deal price rather than new upside from standalone operations. Analyst reaffirms (Benzinga)
• Neutral Sentiment: APLS saw extremely high intraday volume and a multi‑day surge after the deal announcement; such spikes often normalize as the market digests deal terms and regulatory/closing risk. APLS moves 135% higher (Zacks)
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple shareholder law firms have opened investigations and flagged potential challenges to the adequacy of the $41 per‑share price and the sale process — this creates legal/closing risk and could pressure sentiment. M&A class action investigation (PR Newswire)
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrades followed the deal news: Needham cut APLS from Buy to Hold and JP Morgan issued a downgrade in subsequent coverage — these moves can weigh on near‑term trading, especially if analysts see limited upside beyond the deal price. Needham downgrades to Hold (American Banking News) JP Morgan downgrades (MSN)

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.