A. Sinclair Dunlop Sells 31,092 Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) Stock

Key Points

• Apellis Pharmaceuticals Director A. Sinclair Dunlop sold 31,092 shares worth $713,561.40, reducing his ownership by 31.09% to 68,908 shares.
• Apellis Pharmaceuticals' stock is currently trading at $23.01, with a market capitalization of $2.91 billion and a negative earnings per share of ($0.33).
• Analyst ratings for Apellis show a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy", with an average target price of $34.12.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) Director A. Sinclair Dunlop sold 31,092 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $22.95, for a total transaction of $713,561.40. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 68,908 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,581,438.60. This trade represents a 31.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ APLS traded up $0.48 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $23.49. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,549,649 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,286,724. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90, a quick ratio of 3.16 and a current ratio of 3.77. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.10 and a 1-year high of $35.72. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $24.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.97 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.91 and a beta of 0.73.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported ($0.33) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.44) by $0.11. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 30.24% and a negative return on equity of 116.09%. The firm had revenue of $171.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $187.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.30) earnings per share. Apellis Pharmaceuticals's quarterly revenue was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on APLS shares. Citigroup raised their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $34.12.

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,130,356 shares of the company's stock worth $221,551,000 after purchasing an additional 84,331 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 46.6% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,976,414 shares of the company's stock worth $103,452,000 after purchasing an additional 1,898,995 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 11,373.8% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,704,837 shares of the company's stock worth $46,821,000 after purchasing an additional 2,681,263 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 7.4% during the second quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,661,823 shares of the company's stock worth $46,076,000 after buying an additional 184,292 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth about $40,977,000. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).