J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Decreases Stock 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 cut its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Free Report) by 22.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm 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 reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Boxer Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth $45,504,000. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 969.6% during the 4th quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 1,518,827 shares of the company's stock worth $48,465,000 after buying an additional 1,376,832 shares during the last quarter. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,461,000. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,222,222 shares of the company's stock worth $390,011,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111,111 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $34,662,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.29% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on APLS shares. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen raised Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, August 2nd. Bank of America increased their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $36.83.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.1%

APLS stock traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $24.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 876,335 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,292,596. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.38 and a beta of 0.78. 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 1 year low of $16.10 and a 1 year high of $41.94. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $19.32 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.68.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported ($0.33) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 firm had revenue of $171.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $187.91 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($0.30) earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.55, for a total value of $97,750.00. Following the sale, the general counsel owned 128,730 shares in the company, valued at $2,516,671.50. This represents a 3.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Cedric Francois sold 137,465 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.19, for a total transaction of $2,775,418.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 343,433 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,933,912.27. The trade was a 28.59% 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 in the last 90 days. 6.50% of the stock is currently 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).