Braidwell LP Sells 446,532 Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $APLS

Key Points

• Braidwell LP has reduced its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 21.3%, selling 446,532 shares, and now holds 1,652,334 shares valued at approximately $36.1 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, have significantly increased their holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, showcasing robust interest from major investors.
• Apellis Pharmaceuticals reported a revenue decline of 10.6% year-over-year and expects to post a negative earnings per share of -1.7 for the current year.

Braidwell LP trimmed its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Free Report) by 21.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,652,334 shares of the company's stock after selling 446,532 shares during the period. Braidwell LP owned about 1.31% of Apellis Pharmaceuticals worth $36,137,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Assetmark Inc. raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 1,221 shares in the last quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $83,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. bought a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $223,000. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. raised its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 32.8% during the first quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 9,554 shares of the company's stock valued at $209,000 after buying an additional 2,359 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kaufman Rossin Wealth LLC bought a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at about $209,000. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Mizuho cut their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. Citigroup raised their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Finally, 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 report on Wednesday, July 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $34.12.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

APLS stock traded down $0.52 during trading on Friday, reaching $28.13. 2,810,075 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,052,001. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.10 and a twelve month high of $41.94. The company has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -15.46 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.96 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.39. 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 (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 116.09% and a negative net margin of 30.24%.The business had revenue of $171.39 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $187.91 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.30) earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 18th. The shares were 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 $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 at this link. Also, CEO Cedric Francois sold 49,963 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.39, for a total transaction of $1,418,449.57. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 307,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,742,586.94. This represents a 13.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 399,638 shares of company stock worth $9,910,962. 6.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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).