Gotham Asset Management LLC Purchases New Stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)

Gotham Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 24,299 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $775,000.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Boxer Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $45,504,000. National Bank of Canada FI raised its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 266,361.5% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,385,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,214,000 after purchasing an additional 1,385,080 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $41,014,000. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 10.0% in the fourth quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,222,222 shares of the company’s stock worth $390,011,000 after buying an additional 1,111,111 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth about $34,662,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of APLS opened at $17.45 on Monday. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.10 and a 52 week high of $43.99. 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 firm has a market cap of $2.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.60 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $20.32 and a 200-day moving average of $26.69.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.74) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.36) by ($0.38). Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 103.11% and a negative net margin of 34.97%. The business had revenue of $149.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $197.61 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.54) EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on APLS. Raymond James lowered Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Friday, May 9th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $55.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Scotiabank dropped their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $28.00 to $20.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.42.

Insider Activity at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.10, for a total value of $139,781.90. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 138,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,482,123. This trade represents a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 6.50% 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).