PDT Partners LLC Acquires 57,471 Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $APLS

Key Points

• PDT Partners LLC increased its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 41.7% by purchasing an additional 57,471 shares, bringing its total ownership to 195,165 shares valued at approximately $4.27 million.
• Apellis Pharmaceuticals recently reported a loss of ($0.33) per share for the last quarter, which was better than analyst expectations, and a quarterly revenue of $171.39 million, slightly below estimates.
• Wall Street analysts have varied ratings for Apellis Pharmaceuticals, with a consensus target price of $34.12, reflecting an average rating of "Moderate Buy."

PDT Partners LLC raised its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Free Report) by 41.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 195,165 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 57,471 shares during the quarter. PDT Partners LLC owned about 0.16% of Apellis Pharmaceuticals worth $4,268,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Focus Partners Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at approximately $363,000. Graham Capital Management L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the first quarter valued at approximately $615,000. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1.6% in the first quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 55,529 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,214,000 after purchasing an additional 864 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 2,879.3% in the first quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,048,700 shares of the company's stock valued at $22,935,000 after purchasing an additional 1,013,500 shares during the period. Finally, Trexquant Investment LP increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 89.6% in the first quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 384,922 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,418,000 after purchasing an additional 181,914 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.29% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APLS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 2nd. Raymond James Financial lowered their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apellis Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $34.12.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.8%

Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $0.52 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $28.13. The stock had a trading volume of 2,810,075 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,052,001. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.10 and a twelve month high of $41.94. 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 firm has a market cap of $3.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.46 and a beta of 0.73. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $22.96 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) earnings per share (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 the consensus estimate of $187.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.30) EPS. The company's revenue was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 49,963 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 307,946 shares in the company, valued at $8,742,586.94. This represents a 13.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 123,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,439,694. The trade was a 3.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 399,638 shares of company stock valued at $9,910,962. Insiders own 6.50% of the company's stock.

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).