J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Buys 68,588 Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $APLS

Key Points

• J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG increased its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 145.6%, purchasing 68,588 additional shares during the second quarter, bringing its total ownership to approximately 0.09% valued at $2,002,000.
• A number of institutional investors, including Woodline Partners LP and Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC, have also made significant changes to their holdings in Apellis, indicating strong interest from large investors.
• Analysts have mixed opinions on Apellis, with predictions for a target price ranging from $17.00 to $40.00, highlighting varying perspectives on the company's future performance in the market.

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG grew its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Free Report) by 145.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 115,684 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 68,588 shares during the quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG owned approximately 0.09% of Apellis Pharmaceuticals worth $2,002,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in APLS. Woodline Partners LP increased its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 15.5% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 218,850 shares of the company's stock worth $4,786,000 after acquiring an additional 29,373 shares in the last quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 43.5% during the second quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 100,666 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,838,000 after purchasing an additional 30,507 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 16.7% during the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 54,444 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,191,000 after buying an additional 7,777 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 147.8% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 74,325 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,625,000 after buying an additional 44,332 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1,795.4% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,235 shares of the company's stock valued at $224,000 after buying an additional 9,695 shares in the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on APLS shares. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $26.00 to $18.00 in a report on Friday, September 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $33.29.

Insider Activity

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.34, for a total transaction of $121,700.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 118,730 shares in the company, valued at $2,889,888.20. This represents a 4.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Cedric Francois sold 49,963 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 430,919 shares of company stock worth $10,656,945. 6.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $23.80 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.08 and a beta of 0.69. The firm's fifty day moving average is $24.91 and its 200 day moving average is $21.12. The company has a quick ratio of 3.16, a current ratio of 3.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.10 and a 52-week high of $35.72.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $171.39 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $187.91 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 30.24% and a negative return on equity of 116.09%. Apellis Pharmaceuticals's revenue was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.30) earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS 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).

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