Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 32,796 Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $APLS

Key Points

• Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 537%, owning 38,903 shares worth approximately $851,000 after acquiring an additional 32,796 shares.
• Insider trading revealed notable sales by executives, including General Counsel David O. Watson selling 5,000 shares and CEO Cedric Francois selling 175,037 shares, resulting in significant ownership declines for both individuals.
• Analysts have mixed ratings on Apellis Pharmaceuticals, with targets ranging from $20.00 to $46.00, and a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" based on recent performance and earnings outlook.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Free Report) by 537.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 38,903 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 32,796 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.'s holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals were worth $851,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. raised its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 21.9% during the 1st quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. now owns 3,185 shares of the company's stock valued at $70,000 after acquiring an additional 573 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 189,477 shares of the company's stock worth $6,046,000 after acquiring an additional 913 shares during the period. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 3,938.7% during the first quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,252 shares of the company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,221 shares during the period. 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 worth $307,000 after acquiring an additional 1,578 shares during the period. Finally, Xponance Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 14.4% in the 1st quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 16,097 shares of the company's stock valued at $352,000 after purchasing an additional 2,025 shares during the period. 96.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 49,963 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.80, for a total value of $139,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel owned 123,730 shares in the company, valued at $3,439,694. This trade represents a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 399,638 shares of company stock worth $9,910,962 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.50% of the company's stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ APLS traded up $0.85 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $28.65. The stock had a trading volume of 1,907,927 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,086,589. The business's fifty day moving average is $22.75 and its two-hundred day moving average is $21.39. 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 company has a market cap of $3.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.74 and a beta of 0.73. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.10 and a twelve month high of $41.94.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported ($0.33) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.44) by $0.11. The business had revenue of $171.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $187.91 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 116.09% and a negative net margin of 30.24%.Apellis Pharmaceuticals's revenue was down 10.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.30) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently weighed in on APLS. Bank of America increased their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird lifted their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC cut their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $29.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Apellis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $34.12.

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).