Insider Selling: Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Insider Sells 2,618 Shares of Stock

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) insider Nur Nicholson sold 2,618 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total transaction of $58,093.42. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 81,046 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,798,410.74. This trade represents a 3.13% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ APLS traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $20.53. 2,191,474 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,495,767. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $22.86 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 3.54 and a quick ratio of 3.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.23 and a beta of 0.31. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.10 and a 52 week high of $31.17.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.64. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 18.94% and a net margin of 4.43%.The business had revenue of $458.58 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $364.58 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.46) earnings per share. Apellis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 133.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on APLS. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “sell” rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. HC Wainwright dropped their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $57.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.65.

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Deep Track Capital LP grew its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 14.3% during the third quarter. Deep Track Capital LP now owns 8,000,382 shares of the company’s stock worth $181,049,000 after purchasing an additional 1,000,382 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 46.6% in the second 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 lifted 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 purchasing an additional 2,681,263 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% during the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,661,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,076,000 after purchasing an additional 184,292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc grew its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 96.0% in the 3rd quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 2,650,230 shares of the company’s stock worth $59,975,000 after buying an additional 1,298,055 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

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.