Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) Shares Bought by AQR Capital Management LLC

AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) by 337.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 246,880 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 190,420 shares during the quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 0.20% of Apellis Pharmaceuticals worth $9,177,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina boosted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 44,820 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,683,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $205,000. KPP Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 17.6% during the 4th quarter. KPP Advisory Services LLC now owns 11,196 shares of the company’s stock valued at $670,000 after buying an additional 1,675 shares during the period. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $210,000. Finally, Bellevue Group AG raised its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Bellevue Group AG now owns 821,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $49,193,000 after buying an additional 27,959 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have commented on APLS. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target 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. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $64.00 to $57.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $42.00 to $39.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, September 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, July 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apellis Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $70.20.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $28.48 on Thursday. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $26.69 and a 1-year high of $73.80. The company has a market capitalization of $3.46 billion, a PE ratio of -7.82 and a beta of 0.88. 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 has a 50-day moving average of $36.66 and a 200-day moving average of $42.09.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 138.32% and a negative net margin of 52.99%. The firm had revenue of $199.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $190.89 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($1.02) EPS. Apellis Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 110.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.34 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, Director A. Sinclair Dunlop sold 37,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 100,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,623,000. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 6.80% 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).