Point72 Asset Management L.P. Takes Position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)

Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 1,267,958 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,461,000.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Boxer Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $45,504,000. National Bank of Canada FI boosted 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 last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp acquired a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $41,014,000. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,222,222 shares of the company’s stock worth $390,011,000 after acquiring an additional 1,111,111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $34,662,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.10, for a total transaction of $139,781.90. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 138,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,482,123. This represents a 3.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 6.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on APLS. Robert W. Baird lowered their price target 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 set a $57.00 price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Raymond James downgraded shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $52.00 in a research note on Friday, May 9th. Scotiabank reduced their target price 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, Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $20.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.42.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $16.36 on Friday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $20.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.77. The company has a market capitalization of $2.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.06 and a beta of 0.73. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.10 and a 1 year high of $43.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 3.73 and a current ratio of 4.36.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.74) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $197.61 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.54) earnings per share. Apellis Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

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).