Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 21,480,000 shares, a growth of 7.3% from the December 15th total of 20,010,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,100,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.9 days.

Insider Activity

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, CFO Timothy Eugene Sullivan sold 2,170 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.70, for a total transaction of $62,279.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 88,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,528,470. This trade represents a 2.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Cedric Francois sold 6,247 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.70, for a total transaction of $179,288.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 307,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,822,810.50. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 17,308 shares of company stock worth $511,406 over the last three months. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. HighVista Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. HighVista Strategies LLC now owns 7,566 shares of the company’s stock valued at $290,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank lifted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 5.4% during the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 6,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 34.8% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 21.6% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $130,000 after purchasing an additional 781 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

APLS has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, November 21st. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, November 4th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.65.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ APLS opened at $29.93 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 4.36 and a quick ratio of 3.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.74 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $31.88 and its two-hundred day moving average is $33.35. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $24.34 and a 12 month high of $71.90.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.46) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.32) by ($0.14). The company had revenue of $196.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $200.00 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 103.11% and a negative net margin of 34.97%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 78.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($1.17) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.73 earnings per share for the current year.

About Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc, a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, focuses on the discovery, development, and commercialization of therapeutic compounds through the inhibition of the complement system for autoimmune and inflammatory diseases. It offers EMPAVELI for the treatment of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria, C3 glomerulopathy and immune complex membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis, and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation-associated thrombotic microangiopathy; and SYFOVRE for treating geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration and geographic atrophy (GA).