Baird Financial Group Inc. Acquires 27,495 Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)

Baird Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Free Report) by 101.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,665 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 27,495 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,744,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 2,707.1% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 786 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 357.2% in the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,175 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 918 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 70.0% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,223 shares of the company's stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 1,327 shares during the period. Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1,819.2% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,992 shares of the company's stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 3,784 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 89.0% during the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 6,107 shares of the company's stock valued at $195,000 after buying an additional 2,876 shares during the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,569 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.10, for a total transaction of $139,781.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 138,730 shares in the company, valued at $3,482,123. This trade represents a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 6.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $44.00 price objective for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $26.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $28.00 to $20.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut 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 note on Thursday, May 8th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $40.42.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of APLS traded up $1.09 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $17.45. The company's stock had a trading volume of 5,275,588 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,246,717. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 4.36 and a quick ratio of 3.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.60 and a beta of 0.73. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $20.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $26.77. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.10 and a fifty-two week high of $43.99.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.74) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 company had revenue of $149.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $197.61 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.54) EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS 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).