Phocas Financial Corp. Buys Shares of 71,599 Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $APLS

Phocas Financial Corp. purchased a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 71,599 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,239,000.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,130,356 shares of the company’s stock valued at $221,551,000 after purchasing an additional 84,331 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 119.6% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,077,419 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,173,000 after buying an additional 2,220,977 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,661,823 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,076,000 after buying an additional 184,292 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 2,879.3% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,048,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $22,935,000 after buying an additional 1,013,500 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 6.3% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 641,397 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,027,000 after buying an additional 37,741 shares in the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ APLS opened at $19.95 on Thursday. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.10 and a 1 year high of $35.72. The business’s fifty day moving average is $25.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.36 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 3.16 and a current ratio of 3.54.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.64. The business had revenue of $458.58 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $364.58 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 18.94% and a net margin of 4.43%.The company’s revenue was up 133.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.46) EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on APLS shares. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 31st. HC Wainwright decreased their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $57.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, six have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.06.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.22, for a total value of $126,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 113,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,868,270.60. This represents a 4.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Timothy Eugene Sullivan sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.03, for a total value of $280,300.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 110,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,109,536.08. The trade was a 8.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 312,921 shares of company stock worth $8,490,866. Company insiders own 6.50% of the company’s stock.

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).