Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Purchases 1,409,707 Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) by 191.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,144,415 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,409,707 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. owned 1.77% of Apellis Pharmaceuticals worth $61,845,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Future Financial Wealth Managment LLC bought a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter worth $29,000. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S purchased a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter worth about $89,000. nVerses Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 300.0% in the 2nd quarter. nVerses Capital LLC now owns 2,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $107,000 after acquiring an additional 2,100 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC lifted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 299.9% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,151 shares of the company’s stock valued at $159,000 after acquiring an additional 3,113 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1,300.8% during the first quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 3,586 shares of the company’s stock worth $211,000 after acquiring an additional 3,330 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ APLS opened at $27.58 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.97 and a beta of 0.87. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.28 and a 1-year high of $73.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a current ratio of 5.08 and a quick ratio of 4.18. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $33.43 and its 200-day moving average price is $38.82.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.30) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.33) by $0.03. The company had revenue of $199.70 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $190.89 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 138.32% and a negative net margin of 52.99%. Apellis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 110.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.02) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, Director A. Sinclair Dunlop sold 37,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,623,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APLS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $38.00 to $41.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $43.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, September 24th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued a “sector outperform” rating and a $35.00 target price on the stock. William Blair began coverage on Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $67.94.

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).