GSA Capital Partners LLP Purchases New Position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $APLS

GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 31,446 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $712,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 46.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,976,414 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,452,000 after purchasing an additional 1,898,995 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP grew its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 11,373.8% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,704,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,821,000 after buying an additional 2,681,263 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% in the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,661,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,076,000 after buying an additional 184,292 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter valued at $40,977,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 2.3% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,995,271 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,545,000 after acquiring an additional 45,225 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APLS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, January 13th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apellis Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, insider Pascal Deschatelets sold 5,928 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total value of $129,052.56. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,151,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,065,586.14. This trade represents a 0.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Nur Nicholson sold 7,725 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total transaction of $168,173.25. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 71,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,548,238.86. This trade represents a 9.80% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 120,537 shares of company stock valued at $2,608,532. 6.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $22.28 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.54, a quick ratio of 3.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.10 and a twelve month high of $30.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.82 billion, a PE ratio of 71.87 and a beta of 0.26. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $23.31 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.87.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc, traded as NASDAQ:APLS, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapies targeting the complement cascade for the treatment of rare and debilitating diseases. The company’s research and development efforts center on modulating complement proteins to address a range of ophthalmologic, hematologic and renal conditions. Apellis leverages its proprietary compstatin technology platform to design targeted inhibitors intended to improve patient outcomes and quality of life.

The company’s lead marketed product, Syfovre (pegcetacoplan), is an intravitreal complement C3 inhibitor approved for geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration, with ongoing investigations in other retinal disorders.