UBS Group AG Boosts Stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $APLS

Key Points

• UBS Group AG increased its stake in Apellis by 22.1% to 4,186,222 shares, owning a 3.31% stake worth about $105.16 million after adding 756,317 shares in Q4.
• Wall Street sentiment has cooled—multiple downgrades left the stock with a consensus "Hold" rating and an average target of $34.89, below the recent price (~$40.96), suggesting analysts are more conservative than the market.
• Institutional ownership is very high at 96.29%; Apellis reported a quarterly EPS beat ($0.47 vs. -$0.39 estimate) with revenue of $199.9M (down 5.9% y/y) and a market cap of roughly $5.24 billion.

UBS Group AG raised its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Free Report) by 22.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,186,222 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 756,317 shares during the quarter. UBS Group AG owned 3.31% of Apellis Pharmaceuticals worth $105,158,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 35.9% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 567,046 shares of the company's stock worth $14,244,000 after purchasing an additional 149,654 shares in the last quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. boosted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 48.0% during the third quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. now owns 155,399 shares of the company's stock worth $3,517,000 after purchasing an additional 50,375 shares in the last quarter. HighVista Strategies LLC boosted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 68.2% during the third quarter. HighVista Strategies LLC now owns 145,729 shares of the company's stock worth $3,298,000 after purchasing an additional 59,066 shares in the last quarter. Readystate Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth $5,476,000. Finally, Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth $1,212,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.29% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APLS has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group cut Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 31st. Raymond James Financial cut Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a "moderate buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, April 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $22.00 to $21.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Wedbush cut their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $20.00 to $18.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, February 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $34.89.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $40.96 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.24 billion, a P/E ratio of 315.10 and a beta of -0.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $29.22 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.23. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.10 and a 52 week high of $41.00. The company has a current ratio of 3.14, a quick ratio of 2.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 24th. The company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.39) by $0.86. The firm had revenue of $199.91 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $199.28 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 8.20% and a net margin of 2.23%.The business's quarterly revenue was down 5.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.29) earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc, traded as NASDAQ:APLS, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapies targeting the complement cascade for the treatment of rare and debilitating diseases. The company's research and development efforts center on modulating complement proteins to address a range of ophthalmologic, hematologic and renal conditions. Apellis leverages its proprietary compstatin technology platform to design targeted inhibitors intended to improve patient outcomes and quality of life.

The company's lead marketed product, Syfovre (pegcetacoplan), is an intravitreal complement C3 inhibitor approved for geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration, with ongoing investigations in other retinal disorders.

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