Candriam S.C.A. Decreases Stock Position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $APLS

Key Points

• Candriam S.C.A. reduced its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 70.5% during the first quarter, now owning 159,054 shares valued at approximately $3.48 million.
• Analysts have varied price targets for Apellis, with Mizuho cutting theirs from $30 to $20, while Cantor Fitzgerald raised theirs from $39 to $40, indicating mixed sentiment on the stock.
• Apellis Pharmaceuticals reported a loss of $0.33 per share in its latest quarterly earnings, exceeding analyst expectations of a loss of $0.44, but revenue was down 10.6% year-over-year.

Candriam S.C.A. trimmed its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Free Report) by 70.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 159,054 shares of the company's stock after selling 380,548 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. owned about 0.13% of Apellis Pharmaceuticals worth $3,479,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of APLS. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 89.0% in the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 6,107 shares of the company's stock worth $195,000 after buying an additional 2,876 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at $1,564,000. XTX Topco Ltd raised its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 37.1% in the 4th quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 9,785 shares of the company's stock worth $312,000 after purchasing an additional 2,649 shares in the last quarter. Marshall Wace LLP lifted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 292.4% in the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 85,495 shares of the company's stock worth $2,728,000 after purchasing an additional 63,705 shares during the period. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,123,000. 96.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

APLS stock traded up $0.05 on Thursday, hitting $28.27. The company had a trading volume of 484,266 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,286,653. The company has a current ratio of 3.77, a quick ratio of 3.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.10 and a 12-month high of $41.94. The stock has a market cap of $3.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.52 and a beta of 0.78. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $21.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $21.39.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 30.24% and a negative return on equity of 116.09%. The firm had revenue of $171.39 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $187.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.30) EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 137,465 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.19, for a total transaction of $2,775,418.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 343,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,933,912.27. This trade represents a 28.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.80, for a total value of $139,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 123,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,439,694. This trade represents a 3.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 174,090 shares of company stock worth $3,542,832 over the last quarter. 6.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial decreased their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Scotiabank dropped 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. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apellis Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $34.12.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals 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).