Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Buys 27,434 Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $APLS

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 390,884 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,434 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals were worth $9,838,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 35.9% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 567,046 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,244,000 after buying an additional 149,654 shares during the last quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. boosted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 48.0% in the 3rd quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. now owns 155,399 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,517,000 after buying an additional 50,375 shares during the last quarter. HighVista Strategies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 68.2% in the 3rd quarter. HighVista Strategies LLC now owns 145,729 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,298,000 after buying an additional 59,066 shares during the last quarter. Readystate Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth about $5,476,000. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,212,000. 96.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird cut Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. William Blair cut Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut Apellis Pharmaceuticals from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $26.00 to $41.00 in a research note on Friday, April 17th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $24.00 to $41.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 1st. Finally, Bank of America upgraded Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $34.89.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.0%

APLS stock opened at $40.96 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 2.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98. The company’s 50 day moving average is $29.22 and its 200 day moving average is $25.23. The stock has a market cap of $5.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 315.10 and a beta of -0.24. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.10 and a 1-year high of $41.00.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.39) by $0.86. The company had revenue of $199.91 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $199.28 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 2.23% and a return on equity of 8.20%. Apellis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.29) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Apellis Pharmaceuticals

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.