J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Decreases Position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)

Key Points

• J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG reduced its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 22.0%, holding 47,096 shares after selling 13,251 shares in the first quarter, valued at $1,030,000.
• Insider transactions included the sale of 19,725 shares by CEO Cedric Francois and 5,000 shares by General Counsel David O. Watson, indicating a strategic shift within the company.
• Apellis Pharmaceuticals reported a quarterly revenue of $171.39 million, down 10.6% year-over-year, with a consensus estimate of -$0.33 earnings per share, surpassing expectations.

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG lessened its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Free Report) by 22.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 47,096 shares of the company's stock after selling 13,251 shares during the period. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG's holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,030,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 41,533 shares of the company's stock valued at $908,000 after purchasing an additional 5,175 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 3,938.7% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,252 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 1,221 shares during the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at $353,000. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at $647,000. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 119.6% during the 1st quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 241,287 shares of the company's stock valued at $5,277,000 after purchasing an additional 131,404 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 news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.55, for a total transaction of $97,750.00. Following the sale, the general counsel directly owned 128,730 shares in the company, valued at $2,516,671.50. This trade represents a 3.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Cedric Francois sold 19,725 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.21, for a total value of $398,642.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 331,605 shares in the company, valued at $6,701,737.05. This trade represents a 5.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 169,090 shares of company stock worth $3,403,832 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 6.50% of the company's stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of APLS opened at $22.95 on Monday. The business's 50-day moving average is $18.76 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.73. The company has a market capitalization of $2.88 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.61 and a beta of 0.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90, a quick ratio of 3.16 and a current ratio of 3.77. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.10 and a fifty-two week high of $41.94.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported ($0.33) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 116.09% and a negative net margin of 30.24%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($0.30) EPS. Research analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently commented on APLS shares. Raymond James Financial decreased their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, June 2nd. Wall Street Zen raised Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Friday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apellis Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $37.78.

About Apellis Pharmaceuticals

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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