Key Points
- CEO Cedric Francois sold 27,192 Apellis shares on Jan. 22 at an average price of $21.77 for ~$591,970, reducing his stake by 8.68% to 286,045 shares; he also sold 10,186 shares on Jan. 13 and 8,182 on Jan. 20.
- Clustered insider selling — multiple senior executives filed Form 4 sales on Jan. 20–22 — which the article says likely weighed on near‑term sentiment and contributed to the stock decline.
- Company results and analyst mix: Apellis beat Q3 estimates (EPS $1.67 vs $1.03; revenue $458.6M, up 133% YoY), but analysts remain mixed with an average MarketBeat rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target of $33.53 amid divergent price targets.
Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) CAO James George Chopas sold 2,064 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total transaction of $44,933.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 49,805 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,084,254.85. The trade was a 3.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.
James George Chopas also recently made the following trade(s):
- On Tuesday, January 20th, James George Chopas sold 726 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.79, for a total value of $14,367.54.
- On Tuesday, January 13th, James George Chopas sold 873 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total value of $19,371.87.
Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance
Shares of APLS stock opened at $21.76 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 70.18 and a beta of 0.31. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.10 and a 1-year high of $30.91. The company has a current ratio of 3.54, a quick ratio of 3.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $23.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $23.52.
Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.64. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 18.94% and a net margin of 4.43%.The firm had revenue of $458.58 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $364.58 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.46) EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 133.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Key Stories Impacting Apellis Pharmaceuticals
Here are the key news stories impacting Apellis Pharmaceuticals this week:
- Positive Sentiment: BofA upgraded APLS to Buy and cited a stronger-than-expected launch trajectory for Apellis’s newly approved kidney-disease therapy, assigning a $28 price target — a vote of confidence that implies material upside if commercial momentum continues. Apellis Raised to Buy at Bank of America
- Positive Sentiment: An analyst note highlights early uptake of Empaveli and argues current valuation understates its revenue potential; continued strong launch metrics could drive a re‑rating and support upside from current levels. Apellis Valuation Ignores Empaveli Potential, Says Analyst
- Neutral Sentiment: Wells Fargo trimmed its price target (from $29 to $26) but kept an Overweight rating — a mixed signal that reduces upside expectations while leaving institutional support intact. Wells Fargo lowers price target on Apellis
- Neutral Sentiment: RBC Capital reiterated a Hold rating, a neutral stance that may temper buying interest from investors seeking stronger analyst conviction. RBC Capital Sticks to Its Hold Rating for Apellis Pharmaceuticals (APLS)
- Negative Sentiment: Multiple senior insiders — including CEO Cedric Francois, CFO Timothy Sullivan, General Counsel David Watson and others — filed Form 4 sales on Jan. 20–22 (large, clustered disposals totaling many tens of thousands of shares). Even if routine (diversification or option-related), clustered executive selling typically weighs on near‑term sentiment and likely contributed to the stock decline. See CEO filing for details. CEO Cedric Francois Form 4
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
APLS has been the topic of several research reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d)" rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $24.00 to $19.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. William Blair reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, December 15th. Finally, Bank of America raised Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $28.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $33.53.
Get Our Latest Stock Analysis on APLS
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of APLS. Simplify Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth $2,419,000. Corton Capital Inc. bought a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at about $364,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 43.5% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 100,666 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,838,000 after buying an additional 30,507 shares in the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth about $1,135,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 91.9% during the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 485,615 shares of the company's stock worth $8,406,000 after acquiring an additional 232,506 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.29% of the company's stock.
About Apellis Pharmaceuticals
(
Get Free Report)
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.
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