Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) Short Interest Up 7.3% in January

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 21,480,000 shares, a growth of 7.3% from the December 31st total of 20,010,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,100,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.9 days.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:APLS opened at $28.49 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 3.73 and a current ratio of 4.36. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $24.34 and a one year high of $71.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $32.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.70. The stock has a market cap of $3.54 billion, a PE ratio of -14.03 and a beta of 0.94.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.46) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Apellis Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 78.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($1.17) earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Mizuho decreased their price target 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, October 24th. Oppenheimer decreased their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, January 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $36.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.71.

Insider Transactions at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 2,824 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.52, for a total value of $83,364.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 415,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,271,316.40. This represents a 0.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Caroline Baumal sold 2,816 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.81, for a total transaction of $95,208.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 55,560 shares in the company, valued at $1,878,483.60. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 60,002 shares of company stock worth $1,800,119. Insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of APLS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 23.3% during the third 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 during the last quarter. Braidwell LP increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 410.8% during the third quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 3,125,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,130,000 after acquiring an additional 2,513,383 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC raised its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 51.6% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,760,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,084,000 after purchasing an additional 939,289 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 191.9% in the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,144,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,845,000 after purchasing an additional 1,409,707 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,810,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,229,000 after purchasing an additional 22,609 shares in the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).