PDT Partners LLC Increases Holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)

PDT Partners LLC increased its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) by 56.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 145,519 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 52,663 shares during the quarter. PDT Partners LLC’s holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals were worth $4,197,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in APLS. Braidwell LP raised its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 410.8% in 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. FORA Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $422,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 52.9% in the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 159,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,606,000 after purchasing an additional 55,282 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 311.2% during the third quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 31,381 shares of the company’s stock valued at $905,000 after purchasing an additional 23,749 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 956,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,581,000 after buying an additional 9,328 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on APLS shares. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $92.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Evercore ISI upgraded shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wedbush raised their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $49.94.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director A. Sinclair Dunlop sold 37,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.23, for a total value of $1,340,510.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,623,000. The trade was a 27.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:APLS opened at $33.93 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $28.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 4.36 and a quick ratio of 3.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.71 and a beta of 0.87. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a one year low of $24.34 and a one year high of $73.80.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 34.97% and a negative return on equity of 103.11%. The firm had revenue of $196.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $200.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($1.17) EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 78.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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).