Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) Short Interest Up 7.3% in December

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) saw a significant increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 21,480,000 shares, an increase of 7.3% from the December 15th total of 20,010,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 3,100,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.9 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on APLS shares. Mizuho reduced their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $63.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $43.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $36.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.65.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.7 %

Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $29.93 on Tuesday. 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 has a market capitalization of $3.72 billion, a PE ratio of -14.74 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $31.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $33.31. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 12 month low of $24.34 and a 12 month high of $71.90.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.32) by ($0.14). Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 103.11% and a negative net margin of 34.97%. The company had revenue of $196.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $200.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted ($1.17) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 78.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.73 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, insider Caroline Baumal sold 2,816 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.81, for a total transaction of $95,208.96. Following the sale, the insider now owns 55,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,878,483.60. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Cedric Francois sold 6,247 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.70, for a total transaction of $179,288.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 307,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,822,810.50. The trade was a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 17,308 shares of company stock worth $511,406 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wolverine Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth approximately $27,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at $56,000. KBC Group NV lifted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 34.8% in the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 781 shares during the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).