Virtus Investment Advisers LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $APLS

Virtus Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) by 110.4% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 23,073 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 12,106 shares during the quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC’s holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals were worth $399,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in APLS. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the second quarter worth about $40,977,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 119.6% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,077,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,173,000 after buying an additional 2,220,977 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board raised its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 2,879.3% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,048,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $22,935,000 after acquiring an additional 1,013,500 shares in the last quarter. Nuveen LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at $10,765,000. Finally, Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at $5,809,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $21.36 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.91 and a beta of 0.70. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.10 and a 52-week high of $35.72. The company has a quick ratio of 3.10, a current ratio of 3.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $23.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.98.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $364.58 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.46) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 133.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.06, for a total value of $100,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 108,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,181,123.80. This trade represents a 4.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director A. Sinclair Dunlop sold 31,092 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $23.72, for a total transaction of $737,502.24. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,837 shares in the company, valued at approximately $91,013.64. This trade represents a 89.01% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 87,921 shares of company stock valued at $2,099,423 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 6.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Citigroup decreased their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. They issued a “peer perform” rating for the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $24.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, November 3rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.06.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Company 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).