Polar Capital Holdings Plc Purchases 495,175 Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)

Polar Capital Holdings Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Free Report) by 45.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,577,175 shares of the company's stock after acquiring an additional 495,175 shares during the quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc owned 1.27% of Apellis Pharmaceuticals worth $50,328,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of APLS. Xponance Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 14,072 shares of the company's stock valued at $449,000 after acquiring an additional 749 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 2,707.1% during the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 786 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 357.2% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,175 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 918 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE raised its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 70.0% in the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,223 shares of the company's stock worth $103,000 after buying an additional 1,327 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 19.6% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,569 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.10, for a total value of $139,781.90. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 138,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,482,123. This trade represents a 3.86% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 6.50% of the company's stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ:APLS traded up $0.41 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $18.08. 520,161 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,246,901. The company's 50 day moving average price is $20.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.62. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.89 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 4.36 and a quick ratio of 3.73. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.10 and a 52-week high of $43.99.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.74) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.36) by ($0.38). The company had revenue of $149.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $197.61 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 103.11% and a negative net margin of 34.97%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.54) EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have issued reports on APLS. Wedbush dropped their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Raymond James cut shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a "strong-buy" rating to an "outperform" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $75.00 to $52.00 in a research report on Friday, May 9th. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $20.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 14th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $40.42.

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).