AlphaQuest LLC Buys 16,976 Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)

AlphaQuest LLC raised its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) by 8,083.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 17,186 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 16,976 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC’s holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals were worth $548,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Wolverine Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. KBC Group NV lifted its position 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 acquiring an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE lifted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 70.0% in the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 1,327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $206,000. Institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Caroline Baumal sold 2,816 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.81, for a total transaction of $95,208.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 55,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,878,483.60. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.10, for a total value of $139,781.90. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 138,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,482,123. This represents a 3.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 65,934 shares of company stock valued at $1,950,261. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

APLS has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price objective on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Wedbush lowered their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.53.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of APLS stock opened at $25.18 on Thursday. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.77 and a 1 year high of $59.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 4.36 and a quick ratio of 3.73. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.77. The company has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a PE ratio of -12.40 and a beta of 0.92.

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