KBC Group NV Acquires 101,655 Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)

KBC Group NV grew its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) by 3,862.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 104,287 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 101,655 shares during the period. KBC Group NV owned 0.08% of Apellis Pharmaceuticals worth $3,328,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of APLS. Merit Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $254,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 135.6% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 29,740 shares of the company’s stock valued at $949,000 after acquiring an additional 17,115 shares in the last quarter. Eastern Bank lifted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 87.0% in the 4th quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 21,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $686,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 23.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,884,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,036,000 after purchasing an additional 735,160 shares during the period. Finally, Exome Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 114.0% in the third quarter. Exome Asset Management LLC now owns 100,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,895,000 after purchasing an additional 53,467 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 4,965 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.70, for a total value of $142,495.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 107,756 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,092,597.20. The trade was a 4.40 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Caroline Baumal sold 2,816 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.81, for a total transaction of $95,208.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 55,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,878,483.60. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 60,002 shares of company stock valued at $1,800,119 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APLS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $43.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 24th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, November 21st. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America cut their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $61.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apellis Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.71.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 4.5 %

APLS stock opened at $29.01 on Friday. 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 $3.61 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.29 and a beta of 0.94. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.34 and a 1-year high of $71.90. The business’s 50 day moving average is $32.21 and its 200-day moving average is $32.87.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.46) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.32) by ($0.14). Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 103.11% and a negative net margin of 34.97%. The company had revenue of $196.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $200.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.17) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 78.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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).