Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $APLS Shares Bought by HighVista Strategies LLC

HighVista Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) by 68.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 145,729 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 59,066 shares during the quarter. HighVista Strategies LLC owned approximately 0.12% of Apellis Pharmaceuticals worth $3,298,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 206.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,373 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. raised its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 141.2% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after buying an additional 1,570 shares during the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at approximately $64,000. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 338.5% during the second quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 4,191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stelac Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $125,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 3.0%

APLS stock opened at $18.94 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $21.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 3.14 and a quick ratio of 2.70. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.10 and a 1-year high of $30.48. The firm has a market cap of $2.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 145.70 and a beta of 0.26.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.39) by $0.86. The business had revenue of $199.91 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $199.28 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 2.23% and a return on equity of 8.20%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.29) EPS. Research analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, insider Pascal Deschatelets sold 5,928 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total transaction of $129,052.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,151,382 shares in the company, valued at $25,065,586.14. The trade was a 0.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Cedric Francois sold 27,192 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total value of $591,969.84. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 286,045 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,227,199.65. The trade was a 8.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 120,537 shares of company stock worth $2,608,532. 6.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

APLS has been the subject of several analyst reports. Citigroup cut their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Wedbush cut their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Finally, HC Wainwright increased their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $45.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.63.

About Apellis Pharmaceuticals

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.