Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $APLS Shares Sold by Swiss National Bank

Key Points

• The Swiss National Bank has reduced its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 7.7%, owning now 132,600 shares worth approximately $2.9 million.
• Analysts have set varied price targets for Apellis Pharmaceuticals, with Citigroup increasing its target from $41.00 to $46.00 and assigning a "buy" rating.
• Apellis Pharmaceuticals reported earnings of ($0.33) EPS, exceeding estimates, despite a 10.6% year-over-year revenue decline to $171.39 million.

Swiss National Bank decreased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Free Report) by 7.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 132,600 shares of the company's stock after selling 11,100 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned 0.11% of Apellis Pharmaceuticals worth $2,900,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,130,356 shares of the company's stock worth $221,551,000 after buying an additional 84,331 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 127.2% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,856,442 shares of the company's stock worth $59,239,000 after buying an additional 1,039,182 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,778,377 shares of the company's stock worth $56,748,000 after buying an additional 30,867 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 72.3% during the fourth quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 1,680,213 shares of the company's stock worth $53,616,000 after buying an additional 705,209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc increased its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 45.8% during the fourth quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 1,577,175 shares of the company's stock worth $50,328,000 after buying an additional 495,175 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on APLS. Wall Street Zen raised Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 7th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $34.12.

Insider Transactions at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 137,465 shares of the business'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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 343,433 shares in the company, valued at $6,933,912.27. The trade was a 28.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the business'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 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 90 days, insiders have sold 174,090 shares of company stock worth $3,542,832. 6.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 1.0%

Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $0.29 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $28.22. The stock had a trading volume of 2,301,812 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,806,813. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.10 and a twelve month high of $41.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.56 billion, a PE ratio of -15.51 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90, a quick ratio of 3.16 and a current ratio of 3.77. 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 earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported ($0.33) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $187.91 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($0.30) earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. 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).