Short Interest in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) Grows By 34.0%

Key Points

• Short interest in Apellis Pharmaceuticals increased by 34.0% in July, reaching a total of 22,090,000 shares, which represents approximately 18.7% of the company's shares sold short.
• CEO Cedric Francois sold 137,465 shares at an average price of $20.19, resulting in a significant decrease of 28.59% in his ownership.
• Apellis Pharmaceuticals reported a quarterly loss of ($0.33) EPS, which exceeded analyst expectations, although revenue was down 10.6% year-over-year.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totaling 22,090,000 shares, anincreaseof34.0% from the July 15th total of 16,490,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 2,450,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 9.0 days. Approximately18.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Approximately18.7% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 2,450,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 9.0 days.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ APLS traded down $0.1640 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $27.8060. The company had a trading volume of 261,112 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,298,704. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 1 year low of $16.10 and a 1 year high of $41.94. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $20.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $21.31. The company has a current ratio of 3.77, a quick ratio of 3.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90. The company has a market capitalization of $3.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.28 and a beta of 0.78.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported ($0.33) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by $0.11. The company had revenue of $171.39 million during 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 firm's quarterly revenue was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.30) earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on APLS shares. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $28.00 to $20.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $17.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 1st. Mizuho reduced their price target 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. Finally, Raymond James Financial decreased their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $34.12.

Insider Activity at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 137,465 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.19, for a total transaction of $2,775,418.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 343,433 shares in the company, valued at $6,933,912.27. The trade was a 28.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.80, for a total transaction of $139,000.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel owned 123,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,439,694. This represents a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 174,090 shares of company stock valued at $3,542,832. Company insiders own 6.80% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in APLS. Assetmark Inc. boosted its holdings 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 last quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 80.0% in the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,924 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after purchasing an additional 855 shares during the period. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. grew its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 21.9% in the 1st quarter. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. now owns 3,185 shares of the company's stock worth $70,000 after purchasing an additional 573 shares during the period. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 15.6% in the 2nd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,855 shares of the company's stock worth $84,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares during the period. Finally, EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 338.5% in the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,429 shares of the company's stock worth $94,000 after purchasing an additional 4,191 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.29% 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).