Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Has $11.10 Million Stock Position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) by 16.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 347,854 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 49,901 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA owned about 0.28% of Apellis Pharmaceuticals worth $11,100,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of APLS. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth about $34,662,000. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. grew its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 30.5% during the fourth quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. now owns 43,157 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,378,000 after buying an additional 10,087 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,046,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,569,000 after buying an additional 230,450 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $504,000. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 21,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $691,000 after acquiring an additional 1,864 shares in the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on APLS. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Wedbush reduced their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apellis Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.59.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO James George Chopas sold 1,096 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.43, for a total transaction of $33,351.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 48,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,464,839.34. This trade represents a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.10, for a total value of $139,781.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 138,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,482,123. This represents a 3.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 66,054 shares of company stock valued at $1,952,719. 6.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of APLS stock opened at $23.00 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $26.58 and a 200-day moving average of $29.21. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a one year low of $21.70 and a one year high of $58.12. The stock has a market cap of $2.89 billion, a PE ratio of -11.33 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 4.36 and a quick ratio of 3.73.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.29) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.37) by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $212.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.92 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 34.97% and a negative return on equity of 103.11%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 45.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.73) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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).