Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) saw a large increase in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 21,480,000 shares, an increase of 7.3% from the December 31st total of 20,010,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 3,100,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 6.9 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 13,551 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.43, for a total value of $412,356.93. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 418,519 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,735,533.17. This trade represents a 3.14 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 4,965 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.70, for a total value of $142,495.50. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 107,756 shares in the company, valued at $3,092,597.20. This trade represents a 4.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 60,002 shares of company stock worth $1,800,119. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wolverine Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. True Wealth Design LLC acquired a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter valued at about $27,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP acquired a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $56,000. KBC Group NV raised its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 34.8% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,632 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after buying an additional 679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 21.6% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $130,000 after purchasing an additional 781 shares during the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on APLS shares. Bank of America cut their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $61.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. William Blair assumed coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Evercore ISI raised shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $92.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Oppenheimer dropped their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $40.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Eight equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $46.71.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:APLS traded down $0.51 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $28.50. The company had a trading volume of 210,341 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,887,978. 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 has a one year low of $24.34 and a one year high of $71.90. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $32.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $32.76. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.55 billion, a P/E ratio of -14.00 and a beta of 0.94.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.46) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.32) by ($0.14). The business had revenue of $196.83 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $200.00 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 78.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($1.17) EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Apellis Pharmaceuticals

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).