Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) General Counsel David Watson Sells 5,000 Shares of Stock

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) General Counsel David Watson sold 5,000 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.49, for a total value of $122,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel owned 103,730 shares in the company, valued at $2,540,347.70. The trade was a 4.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 2.9%

Shares of NASDAQ APLS traded down $0.72 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $24.48. 3,858,177 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,374,200. The company has a quick ratio of 3.10, a current ratio of 3.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.10 and a 1 year high of $35.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 78.97 and a beta of 0.37. The business has a 50 day moving average of $23.07 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.55.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $458.58 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $364.58 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($0.46) EPS. Apellis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 133.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Parallel Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 80.0% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,924 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 855 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 206.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,037 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,373 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 141.2% in the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,570 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 64.1% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after purchasing an additional 857 shares during the period. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth $64,000. 96.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on APLS. TD Cowen cut their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $26.00 to $18.00 in a report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday. Ten research 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. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target 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).