Cerity Partners LLC Buys 15,286 Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)

Cerity Partners LLC grew its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Free Report) by 48.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 46,667 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 15,286 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC's holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,478,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $206,000. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 18.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 255,897 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,381,000 after purchasing an additional 39,019 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% in the third 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 during the period. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth about $390,000. Finally, Exome Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 114.0% during the 3rd quarter. Exome Asset Management LLC now owns 100,367 shares of the company's stock worth $2,895,000 after buying an additional 53,467 shares during the period. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Wedbush dropped their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $45.35.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of APLS stock traded up $0.81 on Wednesday, hitting $18.18. 213,994 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,146,653. The company has a 50 day moving average of $23.31 and a 200 day moving average of $27.86. The stock has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.96 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 4.36 and a quick ratio of 3.73. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.02 and a 12 month high of $50.98.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.29) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.37) by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $212.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $197.92 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 34.97% and a negative return on equity of 103.11%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 45.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.73) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,569 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.10, for a total transaction of $139,781.90. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 138,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Cedric Francois sold 2,824 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.52, for a total value of $83,364.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 415,695 shares of the company's stock, valued at $12,271,316.40. This represents a 0.67 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 11,005 shares of company stock valued at $299,037. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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).