Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Takes Position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 13,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $430,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 2,707.1% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 786 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. AlphaQuest LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 8,083.8% during the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 17,186 shares of the company’s stock valued at $548,000 after acquiring an additional 16,976 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 10,967.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 329,582 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,876,000 after acquiring an additional 326,604 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 109,883 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,506,000 after acquiring an additional 10,482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, E Fund Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 30.8% in the fourth quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 17,162 shares of the company’s stock valued at $548,000 after buying an additional 4,046 shares during the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on APLS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Wedbush reduced their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.53.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of APLS opened at $24.14 on Friday. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.77 and a 52-week high of $59.91. The company has a market capitalization of $3.03 billion, a PE ratio of -11.89 and a beta of 0.92. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.06. 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 issued its earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.29) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.37) by $0.08. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 103.11% and a negative net margin of 34.97%. The business had revenue of $212.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.92 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.73) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 45.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 13,551 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.43, for a total transaction of $412,356.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 418,519 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,735,533.17. This represents a 3.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,569 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.10, for a total value of $139,781.90. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 138,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,482,123. This represents a 3.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 66,117 shares of company stock worth $1,954,803. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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).