Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) Short Interest Down 12.7% in October

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) was the recipient of a significant drop in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 16,230,000 shares, a drop of 12.7% from the October 15th total of 18,590,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,140,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 5.2 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. Mizuho started coverage on Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $42.00 price objective for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 29th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $29.00 price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, August 23rd. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $115.00 to $70.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 12th. Three investment 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $66.50.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of APLS stock traded up $0.43 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $48.57. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 71,675 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,720,237. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $44.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $58.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 3.76 and a current ratio of 4.29. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 12-month low of $19.83 and a 12-month high of $94.75.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 1st. The company reported ($1.17) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.88) by ($0.29). The company had revenue of $110.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $99.05 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 209.10% and a negative net margin of 222.16%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 400.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($1.75) EPS. Research analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -4.59 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director Alec Machiels sold 1,250 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.34, for a total transaction of $56,675.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 367,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,658,822.80. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 150,000 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $41.75, for a total transaction of $6,262,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 424,655 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,729,346.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Alec Machiels sold 1,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $45.34, for a total value of $56,675.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 367,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,658,822.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 210,914 shares of company stock worth $8,938,011 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 7.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. National Bank of Canada FI acquired a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the second quarter valued at about $33,000. Clearstead Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Focused Wealth Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $45,000. First Horizon Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 69.0% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 649 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd raised its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 564.2% in the third quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 797 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 677 shares in the last quarter. 90.43% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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, cold agglutinin disease, C3 glomerulopathy and immune complex membranoproliferative glomerulonephritis, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and hematopoietic stem cell transplantation-associated thrombotic microangiopathy; and SYFOVRE for treating geographic atrophy (GA).