Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) CEO Cedric Francois Sells 137,465 Shares

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) CEO Cedric Francois sold 137,465 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.19, for a total value of $2,775,418.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 343,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,933,912.27. This trade represents a 28.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink.

Cedric Francois also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, July 17th, Cedric Francois sold 19,725 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.21, for a total value of $398,642.25.
• On Tuesday, July 15th, Cedric Francois sold 1,900 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.09, for a total value of $38,171.00.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 2.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:APLS traded down $0.57 during trading on Friday, hitting $19.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,842,831 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,369,900. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $18.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $22.64. The company has a market capitalization of $2.45 billion, a PE ratio of -10.88 and a beta of 0.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.76, a quick ratio of 3.62 and a current ratio of 4.08. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.10 and a fifty-two week high of $41.94.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.74) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.36) by ($0.38). Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 28.83% and a negative return on equity of 99.19%. The company had revenue of $149.90 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $197.61 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.54) earnings per share. Apellis Pharmaceuticals's revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,222,222 shares of the company's stock worth $390,011,000 after acquiring an additional 1,111,111 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,130,356 shares of the company's stock worth $221,551,000 after buying an additional 84,331 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 119.6% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,077,419 shares of the company's stock worth $89,173,000 after buying an additional 2,220,977 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,838,952 shares of the company's stock worth $58,699,000 after buying an additional 28,426 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG lifted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,778,377 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,748,000 after purchasing an additional 30,867 shares in the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on APLS. Royal Bank Of Canada decreased their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday. Bank of America raised their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup dropped their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $49.00 to $41.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 22nd. Finally, 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 target on the stock. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $40.00.

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).