Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Sells 32,249 Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $APLS

Key Points

• Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 3.2%, selling 32,249 shares and currently owns approximately 0.77% of the company, valued at $21.1 million.
• Insider transactions have seen significant sales including CEO Cedric Francois, who sold 19,725 shares, and General Counsel David O. Watson, who sold 5,000 shares, reflecting recent decreases in their ownership stakes.
• Analysts are mixed on Apellis Pharmaceuticals, with ratings ranging from "Strong Buy" to "Hold," while the consensus price target is $34.12, indicating potential upside from current levels.

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Free Report) by 3.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 964,499 shares of the company's stock after selling 32,249 shares during the quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.77% of Apellis Pharmaceuticals worth $21,094,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of APLS. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,130,356 shares of the company's stock valued at $221,551,000 after acquiring an additional 84,331 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 127.2% in the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,856,442 shares of the company's stock valued at $59,239,000 after purchasing an additional 1,039,182 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,778,377 shares of the company's stock valued at $56,748,000 after purchasing an additional 30,867 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 72.3% during the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc lifted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 45.8% during the 4th quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 1,577,175 shares of the company's stock worth $50,328,000 after purchasing an additional 495,175 shares in the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 19,725 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.21, for a total transaction of $398,642.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 331,605 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,701,737.05. This represents a 5.61% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, 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 value of $139,000.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 123,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,439,694. This represents a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 174,090 shares of company stock worth $3,542,832 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 6.50% of the company's stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

APLS stock opened at $27.62 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $20.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.44. The stock has a market cap of $3.49 billion, a PE ratio of -15.18 and a beta of 0.78. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a one year low of $16.10 and a one year high of $41.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90, a current ratio of 3.77 and a quick ratio of 3.16.

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, beating 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 last year, the company posted ($0.30) EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on APLS shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $34.12.

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).

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