David Watson Sells 5,000 Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Stock

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) General Counsel David Watson sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.49, for a total transaction of $122,450.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 103,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,540,347.70. This represents a 4.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $24.64 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $23.04 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.60. The company has a quick ratio of 3.10, a current ratio of 3.54 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.10 and a twelve month high of $35.57. The company has a market capitalization of $3.12 billion, a PE ratio of 79.47 and a beta of 0.37.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.64. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 18.94% and a net margin of 4.43%.The firm had revenue of $458.58 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $364.58 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.46) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 133.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of APLS. Corton Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $364,000. Woodline Partners LP raised its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 15.5% during the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 218,850 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,786,000 after buying an additional 29,373 shares during the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 43.5% in the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 100,666 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,838,000 after acquiring an additional 30,507 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 91.9% in the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 485,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,406,000 after acquiring an additional 232,506 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at $40,977,000. 96.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on APLS. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $26.00 to $18.00 in a report on Friday, September 26th. HC Wainwright cut their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $57.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $32.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, William Blair reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.94.

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.