Ieq Capital LLC Has $6.38 Million Position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $APLS

Key Points

• Ieq Capital LLC increased its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 130.3%, acquiring 165,148 shares and owning a total of 291,858 shares valued at approximately $6.4 million.
• Apellis Pharmaceuticals has seen significant interest from institutional investors, with one firm, Royal Bank of Canada, increasing their stake by 969.6% in the fourth quarter, now owning over 1.5 million shares.
• Despite a reported $0.33 loss per share in its last quarter earnings, Apellis beat analyst expectations and maintains a consensus target price of $34.12 with a 'Moderate Buy' rating from analysts.

Ieq Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Free Report) by 130.3% 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 291,858 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 165,148 shares during the period. Ieq Capital LLC owned about 0.23% of Apellis Pharmaceuticals worth $6,383,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth about $1,564,000. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 48.2% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 25,645 shares of the company's stock valued at $818,000 after buying an additional 8,344 shares during the last quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 40.0% during the 4th quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 123,151 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,930,000 after buying an additional 35,185 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at about $268,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 20.8% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 547,276 shares of the company's stock valued at $17,464,000 after buying an additional 94,174 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.29% of the company's stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $0.48 on Friday, reaching $27.57. 1,552,075 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,306,131. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.10 and a twelve month high of $41.94. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $21.97 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $21.29. The stock has a market cap of $3.48 billion, a PE ratio of -15.15 and a beta of 0.73.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported ($0.33) EPS 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 analyst estimates of $187.91 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.30) earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report 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. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. 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. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apellis Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $34.12.

Insider Activity at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 49,963 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.39, for a total value of $1,418,449.57. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 307,946 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,742,586.94. This trade represents a 13.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.80, for a total transaction of $139,000.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 123,730 shares in the company, valued at $3,439,694. This trade represents a 3.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 399,090 shares of company stock valued at $9,895,574 over the last three months. 6.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals 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).