Franklin Resources Inc. Sells 10,643 Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)

Franklin Resources Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) by 4.7% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 215,289 shares of the company’s stock after selling 10,643 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals were worth $5,895,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 42.2% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 134,536 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,161,000 after acquiring an additional 39,931 shares during the last quarter. Profund Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 90.7% during the second quarter. Profund Advisors LLC now owns 42,968 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,648,000 after purchasing an additional 20,435 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC lifted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 137.8% during the 2nd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 123,628 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,742,000 after purchasing an additional 71,650 shares during the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. boosted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 240.4% in the 2nd quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 54,572 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,093,000 after purchasing an additional 38,541 shares during the period. Finally, AlphaCentric Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,370,000. Institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

APLS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $85.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 6th. Mizuho cut 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. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, November 21st. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $31.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $63.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Scotiabank reduced their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $49.94.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ APLS opened at $33.21 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $4.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.36 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 4.36, a quick ratio of 3.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.34 and a 12 month high of $73.80. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $30.31 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.49.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.46) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.32) by ($0.14). Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 103.11% and a negative net margin of 34.97%. The company had revenue of $196.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $200.00 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.17) earnings per share. Apellis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 78.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.72 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals 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).