Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $APLS Shares Bought by SG Americas Securities LLC

SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) by 35.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 567,046 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 149,654 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC owned 0.45% of Apellis Pharmaceuticals worth $14,244,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Simplify Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth $2,419,000. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. grew its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 48.0% in the 3rd quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. now owns 155,399 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,517,000 after acquiring an additional 50,375 shares during the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,135,000. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 91.9% during the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 485,615 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,406,000 after acquiring an additional 232,506 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighVista Strategies LLC increased its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 68.2% during the 3rd quarter. HighVista Strategies LLC now owns 145,729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,298,000 after acquiring an additional 59,066 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APLS has been the topic of several recent research reports. William Blair reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, December 15th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Barclays initiated coverage on Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “sell” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, January 12th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apellis Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.42.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:APLS opened at $16.97 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 130.55 and a beta of 0.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $20.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.56. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.10 and a fifty-two week high of $30.48. The company has a quick ratio of 2.70, a current ratio of 3.14 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.39) by $0.86. The company had revenue of $199.91 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $199.28 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 2.23% and a return on equity of 8.20%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.29) EPS. Analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, insider Mark Jeffrey Delong sold 3,371 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total transaction of $73,386.67. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 78,353 shares in the company, valued at $1,705,744.81. This represents a 4.12% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Pascal Deschatelets sold 5,928 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total value of $129,052.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,151,382 shares in the company, valued at approximately $25,065,586.14. This trade represents a 0.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 115,537 shares of company stock valued at $2,486,082 in the last 90 days. 6.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc, traded as NASDAQ:APLS, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapies targeting the complement cascade for the treatment of rare and debilitating diseases. The company’s research and development efforts center on modulating complement proteins to address a range of ophthalmologic, hematologic and renal conditions. Apellis leverages its proprietary compstatin technology platform to design targeted inhibitors intended to improve patient outcomes and quality of life.

The company’s lead marketed product, Syfovre (pegcetacoplan), is an intravitreal complement C3 inhibitor approved for geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration, with ongoing investigations in other retinal disorders.