Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Trims Holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) by 11.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 310,583 shares of the company’s stock after selling 41,210 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. owned 0.26% of Apellis Pharmaceuticals worth $18,591,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sippican Capital Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 16,004 shares of the company’s stock worth $958,000 after buying an additional 170 shares in the last quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 43,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,666,000 after purchasing an additional 230 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd grew its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 564.2% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after purchasing an additional 677 shares in the last quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,196 shares of the company’s stock worth $670,000 after purchasing an additional 1,675 shares during the period. Finally, CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $205,000. Institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, Director A. Sinclair Dunlop sold 37,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.24, for a total value of $1,451,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 136,998 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,375,801.52. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Pascal Deschatelets sold 69,107 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $54.17, for a total transaction of $3,743,526.19. Following the sale, the insider now owns 1,115,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,452,799.11. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director A. Sinclair Dunlop sold 37,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $39.24, for a total transaction of $1,451,880.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 136,998 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,375,801.52. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 189,014 shares of company stock valued at $8,771,758 over the last ninety days. 6.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on APLS shares. Citigroup decreased their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 29th. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $89.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, May 8th. Finally, Wedbush reduced their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $57.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $74.38.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of APLS stock opened at $40.43 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 3.02 and a current ratio of 3.77. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $19.83 and a fifty-two week high of $92.61. The company has a market capitalization of $4.91 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.68 and a beta of 0.95. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $42.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $55.06.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.54) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.54). Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 79.67% and a negative return on equity of 160.77%. The business had revenue of $172.33 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $163.37 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($1.56) EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 284.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals 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).