Trexquant Investment LP Buys 181,914 Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $APLS

Key Points

• Trexquant Investment LP increased its stakes in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 89.6%, holding approximately $8.42 million in shares at the end of the last quarter.
• Apellis Pharmaceuticals reported a quarterly loss of ($0.33) EPS, exceeding analysts' expectations, but its revenue fell short at $171.39 million.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for Apellis Pharmaceuticals, with a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a target price around $34.12.

Trexquant Investment LP increased its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Free Report) by 89.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 384,922 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 181,914 shares during the period. Trexquant Investment LP owned about 0.31% of Apellis Pharmaceuticals worth $8,418,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in APLS. Assetmark Inc. grew its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 3,938.7% during the 1st quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 1,252 shares of the company's stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 1,221 shares during the period. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth about $83,000. Nomura Holdings Inc. acquired a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter worth approximately $223,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC acquired a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth $268,000. Finally, Legacy Capital Group California Inc. raised its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 32.8% during the 1st quarter. Legacy Capital Group California Inc. now owns 9,554 shares of the company's stock worth $209,000 after buying an additional 2,359 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.29% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on APLS. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, June 2nd. Scotiabank dropped their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $28.00 to $20.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 1st. One investment 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.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $34.12.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 2.2%

APLS traded down $0.64 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $28.02. 1,312,125 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,279,885. The company has a market cap of $3.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.38 and a beta of 0.73. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.10 and a fifty-two week high of $41.94. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $22.75 and its two-hundred day simple 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.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 49,963 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 307,946 shares in the company, valued at $8,742,586.94. This trade represents a 13.96% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the general counsel directly owned 123,730 shares in the company, valued at $3,439,694. This trade represents a 3.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 399,638 shares of company stock worth $9,910,962. Company insiders own 6.50% of the company's stock.

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).