Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Has $949,000 Holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $APLS

Key Points

• Pallas Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 29%, acquiring an additional 12,315 shares, bringing its total holdings to 54,849 shares valued at about $949,000.
• CEO Cedric Francois sold 49,963 shares of Apellis stock for over $1.4 million, resulting in a 13.96% decrease in his ownership.
• Analysts have a mixed outlook on Apellis Pharmaceuticals, with one Strong Buy, nine Buy, and nine Hold ratings, and the stock has an average price target of $34.12.

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Free Report) by 29.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 54,849 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 12,315 shares during the period. Pallas Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals were worth $949,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in APLS. Woodline Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 15.5% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 218,850 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,786,000 after purchasing an additional 29,373 shares in the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 16.7% in the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 54,444 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,191,000 after purchasing an additional 7,777 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 147.8% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 74,325 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,625,000 after purchasing an additional 44,332 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 11.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 212,887 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,793,000 after purchasing an additional 21,822 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1,795.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,235 shares of the company's stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 9,695 shares in the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.34, for a total value of $121,700.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 118,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,889,888.20. The trade was a 4.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Cedric Francois sold 49,963 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.39, for a total value of $1,418,449.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 307,946 shares in the company, valued at $8,742,586.94. This represents a 13.96% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 430,919 shares of company stock worth $10,656,945. 6.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.6%

NASDAQ:APLS traded down $0.37 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $23.01. The stock had a trading volume of 3,190,607 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,971,140. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.10 and a 1-year high of $35.72. The company has a current ratio of 3.77, a quick ratio of 3.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90. The company has a market cap of $2.91 billion, a PE ratio of -12.64 and a beta of 0.73. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $24.27 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $21.24.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $171.39 million during 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%. The firm's revenue was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.30) earnings per share. Analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Raymond James Financial decreased 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. 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, Apellis Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $34.12.

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).