Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) CEO Cedric Francois Sells 6,247 Shares

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) CEO Cedric Francois sold 6,247 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.70, for a total value of $179,288.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 307,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,822,810.50. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 2.4 %

NASDAQ:APLS opened at $29.73 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.65 and a beta of 0.94. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.34 and a twelve month high of $71.90. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $31.88 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $33.42. The company has a quick ratio of 3.73, a current ratio of 4.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last announced its 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). The business had revenue of $196.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $200.00 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 103.11% and a negative net margin of 34.97%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($1.17) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 78.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of APLS. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $254,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 135.6% during the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 29,740 shares of the company’s stock worth $949,000 after purchasing an additional 17,115 shares during the last quarter. Eastern Bank raised its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 87.0% during the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 21,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $686,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,884,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,036,000 after purchasing an additional 735,160 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Exome Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 114.0% in the 3rd quarter. Exome Asset Management LLC now owns 100,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,895,000 after buying an additional 53,467 shares during the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $36.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America lowered their price target 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. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 target price for the company. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.65.

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).