Teza Capital Management LLC Makes New $259,000 Investment in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $APLS

Key Points

• Teza Capital Management LLC invested approximately $259,000 in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, acquiring 11,855 shares during the 1st quarter.
• In the same period, multiple hedge funds significantly increased their stakes in Apellis, with MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS increasing by 207.4% and AQR Capital Management lifting its holdings by 119.6%.
• CEO Cedric Francois sold nearly 50,000 shares valued at over $1.4 million, reducing his ownership stake by 13.96% to approximately $8.7 million.

Teza Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 11,855 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $259,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 207.4% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 29,559 shares of the company's stock worth $667,000 after acquiring an additional 19,944 shares during the period. Granahan Investment Management LLC increased its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 13.8% during the first quarter. Granahan Investment Management LLC now owns 175,696 shares of the company's stock worth $3,842,000 after acquiring an additional 21,278 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 119.6% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,077,419 shares of the company's stock worth $89,173,000 after acquiring an additional 2,220,977 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. bought a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth $3,280,000. Finally, ADAR1 Capital Management LLC increased its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 13.3% during the first quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC now owns 17,000 shares of the company's stock worth $372,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.29% of the company's stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $0.55 on Friday, hitting $24.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,690,392 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,868,221. The firm has a market cap of $3.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -13.65 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a quick ratio of 3.16, a current ratio of 3.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $23.78 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.26. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a one year low of $16.10 and a one year high of $38.55.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported ($0.33) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 business had revenue of $171.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $187.91 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.30) EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 49,963 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer owned 307,946 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,742,586.94. This represents a 13.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 123,730 shares in the company, 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 ninety days, insiders sold 399,638 shares of company stock worth $9,910,962. 6.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $23.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $34.12.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Company 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).