Short Interest in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) Increases By 38.2%

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 21,090,000 shares, an increase of 38.2% from the September 30th total of 15,260,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,120,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 9.9 days.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

APLS stock opened at $26.68 on Monday. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 1-year low of $26.28 and a 1-year high of $73.80. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $33.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $38.38. The company has a market capitalization of $3.24 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.71 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 5.08 and a quick ratio of 4.18.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.30) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.33) by $0.03. The business had revenue of $199.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190.89 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 52.99% and a negative return on equity of 138.32%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 110.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($1.02) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director A. Sinclair Dunlop sold 37,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.23, for a total transaction of $1,340,510.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,623,000. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S bought a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth about $89,000. nVerses Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 300.0% during the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,000 after acquiring an additional 2,100 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1,300.8% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,586 shares of the company’s stock valued at $211,000 after acquiring an additional 3,330 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 299.9% in the second quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,151 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,000 after acquiring an additional 3,113 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $130,000 after purchasing an additional 781 shares during the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on APLS shares. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 24th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $96.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, September 23rd. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $65.41.

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).