Insider Selling: Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) CEO Sells 2,824 Shares of Stock

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) CEO Cedric Francois sold 2,824 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.52, for a total transaction of $83,364.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 415,695 shares in the company, valued at $12,271,316.40. The trade was a 0.67 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Cedric Francois also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, January 22nd, Cedric Francois sold 13,551 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.43, for a total transaction of $412,356.93.
• On Friday, January 17th, Cedric Francois sold 6,007 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.96, for a total transaction of $179,969.72.
• On Monday, January 13th, Cedric Francois sold 6,247 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.70, for a total value of $179,288.90.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of APLS opened at $29.01 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $24.34 and a 52-week high of $71.90. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $32.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.87. The company has a market capitalization of $3.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.29 and a beta of 0.94.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last posted 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 company had revenue of $196.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $200.00 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($1.17) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 78.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on APLS shares. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $92.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Scotiabank cut their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Evercore ISI raised shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price target for the company. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apellis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $46.71.

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in APLS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 23.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,884,730 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,036,000 after purchasing an additional 735,160 shares during the period. Braidwell LP boosted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 410.8% in the third quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 3,125,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,130,000 after acquiring an additional 2,513,383 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 51.6% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,760,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,084,000 after acquiring an additional 939,289 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 191.9% in the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,144,415 shares of the company’s stock valued at $61,845,000 after acquiring an additional 1,409,707 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,810,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,229,000 after acquiring an additional 22,609 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

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).