Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Decreases Position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. decreased its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) by 98.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 29,993 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,114,422 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals were worth $957,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wolverine Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $56,000. KBC Group NV grew its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 34.8% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,000 after purchasing an additional 781 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of APLS opened at $30.00 on Friday. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $24.34 and a twelve month high of $71.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.78 and a beta of 0.94. 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’s fifty day simple moving average is $32.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.18.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.46) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.32) by ($0.14). Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 103.11% and a negative net margin of 34.97%. The firm had revenue of $196.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $200.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($1.17) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 78.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, insider Caroline Baumal sold 2,816 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.81, for a total value of $95,208.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 55,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,878,483.60. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nur Nicholson sold 2,145 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.96, for a total value of $64,264.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 52,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,558,249.56. This represents a 3.96 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 55,112 shares of company stock valued at $1,655,767 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently issued reports on APLS. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $61.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Evercore ISI upgraded Apellis Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.71.

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).