Syon Capital LLC Purchases Shares of 19,455 Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)

Syon Capital LLC bought a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 19,455 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $621,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC boosted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 18.0% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 255,897 shares of the company's stock worth $7,381,000 after purchasing an additional 39,019 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth $390,000. Exome Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 114.0% in the 3rd quarter. Exome Asset Management LLC now owns 100,367 shares of the company's stock worth $2,895,000 after buying an additional 53,467 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 23.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,884,730 shares of the company's stock valued at $112,036,000 after buying an additional 735,160 shares during the period. Finally, Eastern Bank increased its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 87.0% during the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 21,500 shares of the company's stock worth $686,000 after buying an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.29% of the company's stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of APLS stock traded up $0.02 on Wednesday, reaching $18.23. The company's stock had a trading volume of 471,766 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,169,062. The company has a market capitalization of $2.29 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.98 and a beta of 0.85. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.98 and a 12-month high of $49.06. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $22.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.60. The company has a quick ratio of 3.73, a current ratio of 4.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.29) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.37) by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $212.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.92 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 103.11% and a negative net margin of 34.97%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 45.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted ($0.73) EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,569 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.10, for a total value of $139,781.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 138,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,482,123. The trade was a 3.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 6,115 shares of company stock valued at $154,684 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APLS has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday. They set an "overweight" rating and a $44.00 price objective for the company. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $45.28.

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).