Teacher Retirement System of Texas Buys 1,864 Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)

Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 21,649 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,864 shares during the quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas’ holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals were worth $691,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of APLS. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 2,707.1% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 786 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 758 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 357.2% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 918 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 70.0% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,223 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,000 after buying an additional 1,327 shares during the period. Finally, M&T Bank Corp bought a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth approximately $216,000. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of APLS opened at $24.27 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 3.73 and a current ratio of 4.36. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $27.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $29.46. The stock has a market cap of $3.05 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.96 and a beta of 0.92. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a one year low of $23.25 and a one year high of $59.91.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.10, for a total transaction of $139,781.90. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 138,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,482,123. This represents a 3.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Caroline Baumal sold 2,816 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.81, for a total transaction of $95,208.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 55,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,878,483.60. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 66,054 shares of company stock valued at $1,952,719. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

About Apellis Pharmaceuticals

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).