Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) General Counsel David Watson Sells 5,780 Shares

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) General Counsel David Watson sold 5,780 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total transaction of $128,258.20. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 98,838 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,193,215.22. The trade was a 5.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.0%

APLS stock opened at $20.53 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.23 and a beta of 0.31. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $22.88 and a 200-day simple moving average of $23.39. 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, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.10 and a 52 week high of $31.17.

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

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

Apellis Pharmaceuticals News Roundup

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on APLS. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $19.00 price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.65.

About Apellis Pharmaceuticals

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.