Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) by 30.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,008 shares of the company’s stock after selling 3,877 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals were worth $260,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of APLS. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 42.2% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 134,536 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,161,000 after acquiring an additional 39,931 shares during the period. Profund Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 90.7% in the second quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 42,968 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,648,000 after purchasing an additional 20,435 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 137.8% during the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 123,628 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,742,000 after buying an additional 71,650 shares in the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank bought a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth approximately $588,000. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 240.4% in the 2nd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 54,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,093,000 after buying an additional 38,541 shares in the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director A. Sinclair Dunlop sold 37,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.23, for a total value of $1,340,510.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at $3,623,000. This trade represents a 27.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APLS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $25.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Robert W. Baird dropped 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. HC Wainwright reduced their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $83.00 to $57.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $61.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.94.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:APLS opened at $31.91 on Tuesday. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.34 and a 12 month high of $73.80. The company has a market cap of $3.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.72 and a beta of 0.87. The company has a current ratio of 4.36, a quick ratio of 3.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $28.92 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.56.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last announced its quarterly 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). The business had revenue of $196.83 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $200.00 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 103.11% and a negative net margin of 34.97%. The business’s revenue was up 78.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($1.17) EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.71 EPS 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).