Royal Bank of Canada Buys 1,376,832 Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)

Royal Bank of Canada raised its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Free Report) by 969.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,518,827 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,376,832 shares during the quarter. Royal Bank of Canada owned about 1.22% of Apellis Pharmaceuticals worth $48,465,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Xponance Inc. grew its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 14,072 shares of the company's stock worth $449,000 after buying an additional 749 shares during the period. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 2,707.1% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 786 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 758 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 357.2% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,175 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 918 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 70.0% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,223 shares of the company's stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 1,327 shares during the period. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 19.6% during the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 9,615 shares of the company's stock valued at $307,000 after purchasing an additional 1,578 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.29% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on APLS shares. Wedbush decreased their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their price target for the company from $41.00 to $23.00 in a report on Friday, May 9th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $39.89.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,569 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.10, for a total value of $139,781.90. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 138,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,482,123. This represents a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 6.50% of the company's stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ APLS traded up $0.03 on Tuesday, hitting $17.47. 151,677 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,258,597. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 4.36 and a quick ratio of 3.73. The business's fifty day moving average is $19.47 and its 200 day moving average is $26.23. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.10 and a 52 week high of $43.76. The company has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a PE ratio of -8.59 and a beta of 0.73.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.74) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.36) by ($0.38). Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 103.11% and a negative net margin of 34.97%. The firm had revenue of $149.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.61 million. During the same period last year, the company posted ($0.54) earnings per share. The business's revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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).