Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $APLS Shares Acquired by Old West Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Old West Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 12.8% during the first quarter, owning a total of 128,192 shares valued at approximately $2.8 million.
• Apellis Pharmaceuticals reported earnings of ($0.33) per share, outperforming analyst expectations, though their revenue for the quarter fell short at $171.39 million.
• Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals have seen a 1.3% increase recently, with the stock showing a market cap of $3.53 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.37.

Old West Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Free Report) by 12.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 128,192 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 14,569 shares during the period. Old West Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.10% of Apellis Pharmaceuticals worth $2,804,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Assetmark Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 3,938.7% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,252 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 1,221 shares during the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. lifted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 21.9% during the 1st quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. now owns 3,185 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 573 shares in the last quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 32.8% during the 1st quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 9,554 shares of the company's stock valued at $209,000 after acquiring an additional 2,359 shares in the last quarter. Kaufman Rossin Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at $209,000. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $223,000. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ APLS opened at $27.97 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.37 and a beta of 0.78. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $20.96 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.31. 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 $41.94.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

APLS has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Mizuho reduced their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $28.00 to $20.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apellis Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $34.12.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 19,725 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.21, for a total value of $398,642.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 331,605 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,701,737.05. The trade was a 5.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.80, for a total value of $139,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 123,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,439,694. This represents a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 174,090 shares of company stock valued at $3,542,832. 6.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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).

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