Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) Insider Sells $64,264.20 in Stock

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) insider Nur Nicholson sold 2,145 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.96, for a total value of $64,264.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 52,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,558,249.56. This represents a 3.96 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.6 %

APLS traded up $0.19 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $30.13. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,461,289 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,274,031. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.75 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.84 and a beta of 0.94. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.34 and a twelve month high of $71.90. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $31.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $33.31. The company has a quick ratio of 3.73, a current ratio of 4.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.46) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.32) by ($0.14). Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 103.11% and a negative net margin of 34.97%. The company had revenue of $196.83 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $200.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($1.17) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 78.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.71 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Braidwell LP grew its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 410.8% in the third quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 3,125,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,130,000 after acquiring an additional 2,513,383 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 191.9% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,144,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,845,000 after purchasing an additional 1,409,707 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 23.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,884,730 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,036,000 after purchasing an additional 735,160 shares during the period. Sphera Funds Management LTD. bought a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $6,226,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 337.3% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 246,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,177,000 after buying an additional 190,420 shares during the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $85.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Citigroup cut their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $63.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Mizuho cut their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Apellis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.71.

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).