Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) CEO Cedric Francois Sells 10,186 Shares

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) CEO Cedric Francois sold 10,186 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total transaction of $226,027.34. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 321,419 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,132,287.61. This represents a 3.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.0%

Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $0.20 during trading on Thursday, reaching $20.53. 2,191,474 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,495,767. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.10 and a 52-week high of $31.17. The company has a market capitalization of $2.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 66.23 and a beta of 0.31. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.86 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $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.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.64. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 4.43% and a return on equity of 18.94%. The firm had revenue of $458.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $364.58 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.46) EPS. Apellis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 133.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect 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 have recently modified their holdings of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 80.0% in the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,924 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 855 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 206.8% in 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. Allworth Financial LP grew its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 64.1% during the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,194 shares of the company’s stock valued at $50,000 after buying an additional 857 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 141.2% during the 2nd quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 1,570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth $64,000. 96.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on APLS shares. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 31st. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $24.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $36.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Eleven 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.65.

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.