Granahan Investment Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $APLS

Key Points

• Granahan Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 13.8% during the first quarter, now owning a total of 175,696 shares valued at approximately $3.84 million.
• CEO Cedric Francois sold 175,037 shares of the company, reducing his ownership by 32.84%, while insiders collectively sold 399,638 shares valued at nearly $10 million over the last three months.
• Apellis Pharmaceuticals reported a revenue of $171.39 million for the last quarter, down 10.6% year-over-year, while analysts project an earnings per share of -1.7 for the current fiscal year.

Granahan Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Free Report) by 13.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 175,696 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 21,278 shares during the quarter. Granahan Investment Management LLC owned about 0.14% of Apellis Pharmaceuticals worth $3,842,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in APLS. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,130,356 shares of the company's stock worth $221,551,000 after purchasing an additional 84,331 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 119.6% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,077,419 shares of the company's stock worth $89,173,000 after purchasing an additional 2,220,977 shares during the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 1,778,377 shares of the company's stock worth $56,748,000 after purchasing an additional 30,867 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 72.3% in 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc raised its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 45.8% in 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.29% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 175,037 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.19, for a total transaction of $4,934,293.03. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 357,909 shares in the company, valued at $10,089,454.71. The trade was a 32.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $3,439,694. The trade was a 3.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 399,638 shares of company stock valued at $9,910,962. 6.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have weighed in on APLS. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Raymond James Financial decreased their target price 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price 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 issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $34.12.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

APLS traded down $1.05 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $24.99. The company had a trading volume of 825,242 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,275,180. The company has a quick ratio of 3.16, a current ratio of 3.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90. The business has a 50-day moving average of $23.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.36. The company has a market cap of $3.16 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.74 and a beta of 0.73. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.10 and a 1 year high of $38.69.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 business had revenue of $171.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $187.91 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.30) EPS. The company's revenue was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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).