Insider Selling: Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) General Counsel Sells 3,323 Shares of Stock

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) General Counsel David O. Watson sold 3,323 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.43, for a total value of $101,118.89. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 144,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,412,167.42. This trade represents a 2.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ APLS opened at $30.76 on Friday. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.34 and a 1-year high of $71.90. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $31.95 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.15 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 4.36 and a quick ratio of 3.73.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.46) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.32) by ($0.14). Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 34.97% and a negative return on equity of 103.11%. The firm had revenue of $196.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $200.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($1.17) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 78.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of APLS. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 3,862.3% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 104,287 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,328,000 after purchasing an additional 101,655 shares in the last quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $254,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 135.6% during the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 29,740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $949,000 after buying an additional 17,115 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank raised its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 87.0% in the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 21,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $686,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 23.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,884,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,036,000 after acquiring an additional 735,160 shares in the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $63.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. William Blair started coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $61.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.71.

About Apellis Pharmaceuticals

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).