Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Grows Stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) by 191.9% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,144,415 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,409,707 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals were worth $61,845,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fiera Capital Corp raised its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 47.7% during the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 1,401,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $53,750,000 after buying an additional 452,753 shares during the last quarter. Iron Triangle Partners LP bought a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at $32,329,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 345,195 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,242,000 after acquiring an additional 22,273 shares during the last quarter. Altitude Crest Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 88.7% in the 1st quarter. Altitude Crest Partners Inc. now owns 287,277 shares of the company’s stock worth $16,886,000 after purchasing an additional 135,077 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 337.3% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 246,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,177,000 after purchasing an additional 190,420 shares during the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director A. Sinclair Dunlop sold 37,000 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.23, for a total transaction of $1,340,510.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,623,000. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $64.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $66.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $96.00 to $92.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apellis Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $67.94.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

APLS opened at $27.58 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $33.43 and a 200 day moving average of $38.82. The stock has a market cap of $3.35 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.97 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a quick ratio of 4.18, a current ratio of 5.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $26.28 and a 52-week high of $73.80.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.30) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.33) by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $199.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190.89 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 52.99% and a negative return on equity of 138.32%. The business’s revenue was up 110.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.02) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.37 EPS for the current year.

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).