203,008 Shares in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) Purchased by Trexquant Investment LP

Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 203,008 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,478,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in APLS. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,046,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,569,000 after purchasing an additional 230,450 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,884,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,036,000 after buying an additional 735,160 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 51.6% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,760,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,084,000 after buying an additional 939,289 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,838,952 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,699,000 after acquiring an additional 28,426 shares in the last quarter. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 266,361.5% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,385,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,214,000 after acquiring an additional 1,385,080 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on APLS. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price target 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wedbush cut their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 price target 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 issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Apellis Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.59.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 11.3 %

NASDAQ APLS opened at $19.97 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $2.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.84 and a beta of 0.85. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $19.76 and a twelve month high of $57.85. The company has a quick ratio of 3.73, a current ratio of 4.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. The business’s fifty day moving average is $26.22 and its 200 day moving average is $29.05.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.29) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.37) by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $212.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $197.92 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 103.11% and a negative net margin of 34.97%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 45.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.73) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,569 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the general counsel now owns 138,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,482,123. The trade was a 3.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Caroline Baumal sold 2,816 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.81, for a total value of $95,208.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 55,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,878,483.60. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,054 shares of company stock valued at $1,952,719 in the last ninety days. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals 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).