Swiss National Bank Sells 10,400 Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)

Swiss National Bank lessened its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) by 6.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 143,700 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,400 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.12% of Apellis Pharmaceuticals worth $4,585,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of APLS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 23.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,884,730 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,036,000 after buying an additional 735,160 shares in the last quarter. Braidwell LP raised its holdings 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 lifted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 51.6% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,760,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,084,000 after acquiring an additional 939,289 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 22,609 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 996,748 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,806,000 after purchasing an additional 40,386 shares in the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on APLS. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Wedbush cut their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Eight investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.53.

Insider Transactions at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 13,551 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.43, for a total value of $412,356.93. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 418,519 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,735,533.17. This trade represents a 3.14 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.10, for a total transaction 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 66,054 shares of company stock valued at $1,952,719. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.5 %

APLS opened at $24.26 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.90. The company has a current ratio of 4.36, a quick ratio of 3.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. The stock has a market cap of $3.05 billion, a PE ratio of -11.95 and a beta of 0.92. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.77 and a 1-year high of $59.91.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.29) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.37) by $0.08. The company had revenue of $212.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.92 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 103.11% and a negative net margin of 34.97%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 45.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.73) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

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).