Royal Bank of Canada Sells 723,892 Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $APLS

Key Points

• Royal Bank of Canada reduced its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 47.7%, selling over 723,892 shares, and now holds approximately 0.63% of the company valued at $17.38 million.
• Analysts have recently adjusted their price targets for Apellis Pharmaceuticals, with targets ranging from $19.00 by Royal Bank of Canada to $50.00 by Robert W. Baird, indicating a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy".
• Insider trading has seen significant activity, with the General Counsel and CEO selling a combined total of 54,963 shares since mid-August, showcasing a decrease in their ownership positions.

Royal Bank of Canada reduced its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Free Report) by 47.7% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 794,935 shares of the company's stock after selling 723,892 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada owned approximately 0.63% of Apellis Pharmaceuticals worth $17,384,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in APLS. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $40,461,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board lifted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 2,879.3% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,048,700 shares of the company's stock worth $22,935,000 after purchasing an additional 1,013,500 shares during the last quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank lifted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 3,791.4% in the fourth quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 997,053 shares of the company's stock worth $31,816,000 after purchasing an additional 971,431 shares during the last quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter worth $25,311,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 72.3% in the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,680,213 shares of the company's stock worth $53,616,000 after purchasing an additional 705,209 shares during the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial lowered 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 boosted their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, June 2nd. One investment 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 company. According to MarketBeat, Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $34.12.

Insider Activity at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 175,037 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.19, for a total value of $4,934,293.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 357,909 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,089,454.71. This represents a 32.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the general counsel owned 123,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,439,694. This represents a 3.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 394,638 shares of company stock worth $9,817,112. Insiders own 6.50% of the company's stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.9%

APLS traded down $0.46 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $24.39. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,168,658 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,868,221. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.40 and a beta of 0.73. 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 1 year low of $16.10 and a 1 year high of $37.83. The stock's 50-day moving average is $23.92 and its 200-day moving average is $21.26.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported ($0.33) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.44) by $0.11. The business 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 business's revenue was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.30) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current year.

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).