SG Americas Securities LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $APLS

SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) by 35.9% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 567,046 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 149,654 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals were worth $14,244,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,373 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP increased 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 in the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 141.2% in the second 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. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $64,000. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 338.5% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 4,191 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on APLS shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “sell” rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, January 12th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. William Blair restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, December 15th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, Barclays began coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Thirteen 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apellis Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.42.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 3.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:APLS opened at $16.97 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 has a fifty day simple moving average of $20.78 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.56. The firm has a market cap of $2.17 billion, a PE ratio of 130.55 and a beta of 0.26. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.10 and a 12-month high of $30.48.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.39) by $0.86. The firm had revenue of $199.91 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $199.28 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 2.23% and a return on equity of 8.20%. The firm’s revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.29) EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 27,192 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total value of $591,969.84. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 286,045 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,227,199.65. This represents a 8.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Mark Jeffrey Delong sold 3,371 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total transaction of $73,386.67. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 78,353 shares in the company, valued at $1,705,744.81. The trade was a 4.12% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 115,537 shares of company stock worth $2,486,082. Company insiders own 6.50% of the company’s stock.

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.