Investors Buy High Volume of Call Options on Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS)

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders acquired 18,182 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 703% compared to the typical daily volume of 2,265 call options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

APLS has been the topic of several recent research reports. Oppenheimer raised their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $92.00 price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Friday. Mizuho reduced their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $52.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Raymond James raised their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 11th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $77.40.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 7.6 %

NASDAQ:APLS traded down $3.65 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $44.19. 6,668,248 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,537,654. The business's 50-day moving average price is $57.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.56. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -9.81 and a beta of 0.88. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $19.83 and a 1 year high of $94.75. The company has a current ratio of 3.10, a quick ratio of 2.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.73) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.73). The business had revenue of $146.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $143.34 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 178.60% and a negative net margin of 133.34%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 545.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($1.50) earnings per share. Analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.34 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, CFO Timothy Eugene Sullivan sold 1,431 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.77, for a total value of $96,978.87. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 93,338 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,325,516.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 781 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.77, for a total transaction of $52,928.37. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 103,390 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,006,740.30. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Timothy Eugene Sullivan sold 1,431 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.77, for a total value of $96,978.87. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,338 shares in the company, valued at $6,325,516.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 376,427 shares of company stock valued at $23,169,639 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 7.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APLS. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 48.6% during the third quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC now owns 6,922 shares of the company's stock valued at $263,000 after buying an additional 2,263 shares during the last quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors raised its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 77.8% in the third quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 15,834 shares of the company's stock worth $602,000 after purchasing an additional 6,930 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 0.8% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 360,287 shares of the company's stock worth $13,705,000 after purchasing an additional 2,998 shares during the last quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 10.3% in the third quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 14,021 shares of the company's stock worth $533,000 after purchasing an additional 1,310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.29% of the company's stock.

About Apellis Pharmaceuticals

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).