Short Interest in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) Declines By 16.0%

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) was the target of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 18,040,000 shares, a decrease of 16.0% from the December 31st total of 21,480,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,020,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.0 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, CAO James George Chopas sold 1,096 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.43, for a total value of $33,351.28. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 48,138 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,464,839.34. The trade was a 2.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Caroline Baumal sold 2,816 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.81, for a total transaction of $95,208.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 55,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,878,483.60. This represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 60,002 shares of company stock worth $1,800,119. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 34.8% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 21.6% in the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $130,000 after acquiring an additional 781 shares during the last quarter. Wolverine Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC bought a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Toronto Dominion Bank boosted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 4.2% in the third quarter. Toronto Dominion Bank now owns 25,622 shares of the company’s stock valued at $739,000 after acquiring an additional 1,022 shares during the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently commented on APLS shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $43.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $61.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $85.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.71.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ APLS traded down $0.45 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $28.56. The stock had a trading volume of 164,679 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,885,962. The company has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.07 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $32.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.76. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $24.34 and a 52 week high of $71.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 3.73 and a current ratio of 4.36.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.46) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.32) by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $196.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $200.00 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 up 78.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($1.17) earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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).