Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $APLS Shares Bought by AQR Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• AQR Capital Management LLC significantly increased its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, acquiring an additional 2,220,977 shares, bringing its total ownership to approximately 4 million shares, valued at $89 million.
• Several hedge funds have also made recent investments in Apellis, with institutional investors now owning 96.29% of the company's stock.
• Analysts have mixed views on the company's stock, with target prices ranging from $20 to $46, and an average rating of "Moderate Buy."

AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Free Report) by 119.6% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,077,419 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,220,977 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC owned 3.24% of Apellis Pharmaceuticals worth $89,173,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of APLS. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. acquired a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $3,280,000. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 13.3% during the 1st quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC now owns 17,000 shares of the company's stock valued at $372,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. PDT Partners LLC lifted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 41.7% during the 1st quarter. PDT Partners LLC now owns 195,165 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,268,000 after acquiring an additional 57,471 shares during the period. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $363,000. Finally, Graham Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $615,000. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ APLS traded down $0.38 on Wednesday, hitting $26.46. The company had a trading volume of 354,135 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,275,970. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90, a current ratio of 3.77 and a quick ratio of 3.16. The company's fifty day moving average price is $23.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.33. The company has a market capitalization of $3.34 billion, a PE ratio of -14.52 and a beta of 0.73. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.10 and a 12-month high of $39.51.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last posted 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 company had revenue of $171.39 million during 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 revenue for the quarter was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.30) earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have commented on APLS shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. One investment 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $34.12.

Insider Transactions at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the company'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 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 sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Cedric Francois sold 49,963 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.39, for a total transaction of $1,418,449.57. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 307,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,742,586.94. This represents a 13.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 399,638 shares of company stock valued at $9,910,962 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.80% of the company's stock.

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).