Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $APLS Shares Sold by Candriam S.C.A.

Candriam S.C.A. lessened its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) by 70.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 159,054 shares of the company’s stock after selling 380,548 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. owned about 0.13% of Apellis Pharmaceuticals worth $3,479,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,130,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $221,551,000 after purchasing an additional 84,331 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 127.2% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,856,442 shares of the company’s stock valued at $59,239,000 after purchasing an additional 1,039,182 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,778,377 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,748,000 after acquiring an additional 30,867 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 72.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,680,213 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,616,000 after acquiring an additional 705,209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc raised its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 45.8% in the fourth quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 1,577,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,328,000 after acquiring an additional 495,175 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on APLS shares. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Raymond James Financial dropped their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.12.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.3%

APLS stock opened at $27.97 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.16, a current ratio of 3.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.10 and a fifty-two week high of $41.94. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $20.96 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.44. The stock has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a PE ratio of -15.37 and a beta of 0.78.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported ($0.33) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by $0.11. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 30.24% and a negative return on equity of 116.09%. The business had revenue of $171.39 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $187.91 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.30) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.80, for a total value of $139,000.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 123,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,439,694. This trade represents a 3.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Cedric Francois sold 19,725 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.21, for a total transaction of $398,642.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 331,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,701,737.05. This trade represents a 5.61% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 174,090 shares of company stock worth $3,542,832. Corporate insiders own 6.50% of the company’s stock.

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).