Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Invests $268,000 in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 8,394 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $268,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of APLS. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 266,361.5% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,385,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,214,000 after acquiring an additional 1,385,080 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,014,000. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,222,222 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,011,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111,111 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,662,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 51.6% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,760,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,084,000 after buying an additional 939,289 shares in the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on APLS. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Wedbush reduced their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.28.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,569 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.10, for a total transaction of $139,781.90. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 138,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,482,123. This represents a 3.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 6,115 shares of company stock valued at $154,684 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $20.34 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.56 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.02 and a beta of 0.85. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.98 and a 12-month high of $49.06. 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 firm’s 50-day moving average is $21.84 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.37.

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

Apellis Pharmaceuticals 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).