Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 20,820,000 shares, a growth of 20.1% from the February 13th total of 17,340,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,990,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 10.5 days. Approximately 18.0% of the company’s shares are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, insider Caroline Baumal sold 2,816 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 55,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,569 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.10, for a total value of $139,781.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 138,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,482,123. This represents a 3.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 66,117 shares of company stock worth $1,954,803. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. KBC Group NV raised its stake 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 buying an additional 679 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 14,072 shares of the company’s stock valued at $449,000 after buying an additional 749 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 2,707.1% in the fourth quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 786 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 189,477 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,046,000 after purchasing an additional 913 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC grew its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 357.2% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 918 shares in the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APLS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Wedbush decreased their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.53.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $24.41 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.02 and a beta of 0.92. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $23.77 and a 12 month high of $59.91. The company has a current ratio of 4.36, a quick ratio of 3.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.29) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.37) by $0.08. The business had revenue of $212.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $197.92 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 103.11% and a negative net margin of 34.97%. Apellis Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 45.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.73) earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 EPS for the current 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).