Woodline Partners LP Grows Position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $APLS

Key Points

• Woodline Partners LP has increased its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 15.5%, acquiring an additional 29,373 shares, making its total holding approximately $4.79 million.
• Insider transactions showed General Counsel David O. Watson and CEO Cedric Francois both selling significant shares, with Watson's sale representing a 3.88% decrease in their ownership and Francois a 13.96% decrease.
• Apellis Pharmaceuticals has received varying price target adjustments from several analysts, with Robert W. Baird increasing its target to $50.00, while the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".

Woodline Partners LP lifted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Free Report) by 15.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 218,850 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 29,373 shares during the quarter. Woodline Partners LP owned approximately 0.17% of Apellis Pharmaceuticals worth $4,786,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Raymond James Financial lowered their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $34.12.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ APLS traded up $0.34 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $23.47. 468,354 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,281,691. The company has a quick ratio of 3.16, a current ratio of 3.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.12 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.29. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.10 and a 1-year high of $37.83. The firm has a market cap of $2.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.89 and a beta of 0.73.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.80, for a total transaction 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 $3,439,694. This trade represents a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Cedric Francois sold 49,963 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.39, for a total value of $1,418,449.57. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 307,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,742,586.94. This represents a 13.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 394,827 shares of company stock valued at $9,821,684. Corporate insiders own 6.50% of the company's stock.

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).