SG Americas Securities LLC Purchases 372,289 Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $APLS

SG Americas Securities LLC grew its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) by 825.4% during the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 417,392 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 372,289 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals were worth $9,446,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Corton Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $364,000. Simplify Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,419,000. Woodline Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 15.5% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 218,850 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,786,000 after acquiring an additional 29,373 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 43.5% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 100,666 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,838,000 after purchasing an additional 30,507 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth $1,135,000. 96.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.49, for a total transaction of $122,450.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 103,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,540,347.70. The trade was a 4.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Timothy Eugene Sullivan sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.03, for a total value of $280,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 110,936 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,109,536.08. This trade represents a 8.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 25,000 shares of company stock worth $629,150 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 6.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on APLS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $24.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, November 3rd. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, December 19th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.94.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of APLS opened at $27.30 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.45 billion, a PE ratio of 88.07 and a beta of 0.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $22.79 and a 200-day moving average of $23.31. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a one year low of $16.10 and a one year high of $31.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 3.54 and a quick ratio of 3.10.

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