Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) Position Cut by Arizona State Retirement System

Arizona State Retirement System trimmed its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 21,204 shares of the company’s stock after selling 1,512 shares during the quarter. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals were worth $677,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 23.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,884,730 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,036,000 after purchasing an additional 735,160 shares in the last quarter. Braidwell LP boosted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 410.8% during the 3rd quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 3,125,183 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,130,000 after purchasing an additional 2,513,383 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 51.6% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,760,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $88,084,000 after purchasing an additional 939,289 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,810,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,229,000 after purchasing an additional 22,609 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 996,748 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,806,000 after purchasing an additional 40,386 shares in the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on APLS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Eight investment 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apellis Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $45.53.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, CAO James George Chopas sold 1,096 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.43, for a total transaction of $33,351.28. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 48,138 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,464,839.34. This represents a 2.23 % 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 stock in a transaction on 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 directly owns 55,560 shares in the company, valued at $1,878,483.60. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 65,934 shares of company stock worth $1,950,261. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:APLS opened at $24.66 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. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.77 and a 1 year high of $59.91. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $30.62. The firm has a market cap of $3.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.15 and a beta of 0.92.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.29) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.37) by $0.08. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 103.11% and a negative net margin of 34.97%. The business had revenue of $212.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $197.92 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.73) earnings per share. Apellis Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was up 45.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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).