Invesco Ltd. Raises Stock Position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $APLS

Key Points

• Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 6.3%, acquiring an additional 37,741 shares for a total of 641,397 shares valued at approximately $14 million.
• Several institutional investors have also enhanced their positions in Apellis, notably Royal Bank of Canada, which increased its ownership by 969.6%, bringing its total shares to 1,518,827.
• Apellis Pharmaceuticals reported a quarterly loss of ($0.33) EPS, slightly better than analyst expectations, but its revenue of $171.39 million missed estimates of $187.91 million.

Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Free Report) by 6.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 641,397 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 37,741 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. owned 0.51% of Apellis Pharmaceuticals worth $14,027,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,130,356 shares of the company's stock worth $221,551,000 after acquiring an additional 84,331 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 127.2% in the 4th 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 holdings in 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 buying an additional 30,867 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised 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 valued at $53,616,000 after buying an additional 705,209 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Polar Capital Holdings Plc raised its holdings in 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 in the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 137,465 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.19, for a total transaction of $2,775,418.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 343,433 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,933,912.27. The trade was a 28.59% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals 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 sale, the general counsel directly owned 123,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,439,694. This trade represents a 3.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 174,090 shares of company stock valued at $3,542,832. Insiders own 6.50% of the company's stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.1%

NASDAQ APLS traded up $0.32 during trading on Thursday, reaching $28.54. 128,490 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,284,795. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.10 and a 12-month high of $41.94. The firm has a market cap of $3.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.68 and a beta of 0.78. 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 50 day simple moving average is $21.56 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $21.39.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 net margin of 30.24% and a negative return on equity of 116.09%. The company had revenue of $171.39 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $187.91 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.30) EPS. Apellis Pharmaceuticals's revenue for the quarter was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 14th. Raymond James Financial reduced their price target 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. 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 report on Wednesday, July 16th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price 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).