Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) General Counsel David O. Watson Sells 3,323 Shares

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) General Counsel David O. Watson sold 3,323 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.43, for a total value of $101,118.89. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 144,994 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,412,167.42. This trade represents a 2.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ:APLS traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $30.76. The company had a trading volume of 1,345,028 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,139,207. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.34 and a 1-year high of $71.90. The firm has a market cap of $3.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.15 and a beta of 0.94. 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 company has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $33.25.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last announced 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 business had revenue of $196.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $200.00 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($1.17) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 78.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,884,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,036,000 after acquiring an additional 735,160 shares during the period. Braidwell LP raised its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 410.8% during the 3rd quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 3,125,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,130,000 after purchasing an additional 2,513,383 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 191.9% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,144,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,845,000 after purchasing an additional 1,409,707 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,810,526 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,229,000 after purchasing an additional 22,609 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 956,362 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,581,000 after purchasing an additional 9,328 shares in the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on APLS shares. William Blair began coverage on Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, November 21st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price target for the company. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $92.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.71.

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).