Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Downgraded to “Hold” Rating by Citigroup

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) was downgraded by analysts at Citigroup from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the stock. HC Wainwright restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $41.00 price target (down from $48.00) on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $19.00 price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Wedbush decreased their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, sixteen have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apellis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.00.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

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

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Nur Nicholson sold 7,725 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total transaction of $168,173.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 71,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,548,238.86. The trade was a 9.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 7,832 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total value of $170,502.64. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 88,531 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,927,319.87. This trade represents a 8.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 115,537 shares of company stock worth $2,486,082 over the last 90 days. 6.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in APLS. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,674,865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $268,153,000 after buying an additional 687,471 shares in the last quarter. Deep Track Capital LP increased its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 14.3% in the third quarter. Deep Track Capital LP now owns 8,000,382 shares of the company’s stock worth $181,049,000 after acquiring an additional 1,000,382 shares in the last quarter. RTW Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $192,589,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 46.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,976,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,452,000 after purchasing an additional 1,898,995 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 14.3% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 4,613,446 shares of the company’s stock valued at $115,890,000 after purchasing an additional 575,802 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Apellis Pharmaceuticals

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)

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.