Insider Selling: Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) CAO Sells 1,096 Shares of Stock

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) CAO James George Chopas sold 1,096 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.43, for a total value of $33,351.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 48,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,464,839.34. The trade was a 2.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

James George Chopas also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, January 17th, James George Chopas sold 715 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.96, for a total value of $21,421.40.
• On Monday, January 13th, James George Chopas sold 783 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.70, for a total value of $22,472.10.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $0.37 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $30.76. 1,345,028 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,139,207. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $24.34 and a 12-month high of $71.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 3.73 and a current ratio of 4.36. The stock has a market cap of $3.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.15 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $31.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $33.25.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.46) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $196.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $200.00 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($1.17) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 78.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.71 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $26.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup dropped their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $63.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, January 14th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $43.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective 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. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.71.

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in APLS. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D boosted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 6.6% in the second quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 45,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,735,000 after acquiring an additional 2,820 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 42.2% in the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 134,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,161,000 after purchasing an additional 39,931 shares during the period. Amalgamated Bank raised its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 5.4% during the second quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 6,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,000 after acquiring an additional 359 shares during the last quarter. Xponance Inc. raised its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 7.6% during the second quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 13,773 shares of the company’s stock worth $528,000 after acquiring an additional 968 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter worth about $2,350,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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).