Insider Selling: Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) CAO Sells $19,371.87 in Stock

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) CAO James George Chopas sold 873 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $22.19, for a total value of $19,371.87. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 52,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,167,083.05. This represents a 1.63% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ APLS traded up $0.20 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $20.53. The company had a trading volume of 2,191,474 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,495,767. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 3.10 and a current ratio of 3.54. The company has a market capitalization of $2.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.23 and a beta of 0.31. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $22.86 and a two-hundred day moving average of $23.41. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.10 and a 12-month high of $31.17.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.64. The firm had revenue of $458.58 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $364.58 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a net margin of 4.43% and a return on equity of 18.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 133.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.46) EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of APLS. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 80.0% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,924 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 855 shares during the last quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp boosted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 206.8% in the third quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 2,037 shares of the company’s stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,373 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 64.1% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,194 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 857 shares during the last quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 141.2% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,682 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 1,570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at $64,000. Institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on APLS shares. Citigroup dropped their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $52.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, October 15th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $32.00 price objective for the company. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $29.00 to $28.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Mizuho lowered their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $24.00 to $19.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, November 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, October 31st. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Apellis Pharmaceuticals currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.65.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc, traded as NASDAQ:APLS, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapies targeting the complement cascade for the treatment of rare and debilitating diseases. The company’s research and development efforts center on modulating complement proteins to address a range of ophthalmologic, hematologic and renal conditions. Apellis leverages its proprietary compstatin technology platform to design targeted inhibitors intended to improve patient outcomes and quality of life.

The company’s lead marketed product, Syfovre (pegcetacoplan), is an intravitreal complement C3 inhibitor approved for geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration, with ongoing investigations in other retinal disorders.