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 dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.43, for a total transaction of $101,118.89. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 144,994 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,412,167.42. This trade represents a 2.24 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of APLS stock opened at $30.00 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.08 and a 200 day simple moving average of $33.15. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.73 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.78 and a beta of 0.94. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $24.34 and a fifty-two week high of $71.90. The company has a quick ratio of 3.73, a current ratio of 4.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.46) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $196.83 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $200.00 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted ($1.17) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 78.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Wolverine Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at $27,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at $56,000. KBC Group NV increased its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 781 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America dropped their price target 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. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, January 21st. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $92.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, November 21st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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).