Axiom Investors LLC DE Increases Stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)

Axiom Investors LLC DE boosted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) by 18.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 25,795 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,000 shares during the quarter. Axiom Investors LLC DE’s holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals were worth $2,350,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Clearstead Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 1st quarter valued at about $27,000. National Bank of Canada FI purchased a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $33,000. Focused Wealth Management Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter valued at about $45,000. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 391.2% during the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,110 shares of the company’s stock valued at $56,000 after acquiring an additional 884 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisor Group Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Advisor Group Holdings Inc. now owns 3,249 shares of the company’s stock valued at $167,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. 90.43% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 150,000 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.75, for a total transaction of $6,262,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 424,655 shares in the company, valued at $17,729,346.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 150,000 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, September 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.75, for a total transaction of $6,262,500.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 424,655 shares in the company, valued at $17,729,346.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 sale, the director now owns 367,420 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,658,822.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 212,164 shares of company stock worth $8,997,686 over the last quarter. Insiders own 7.50% of the company’s stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ APLS opened at $49.50 on Tuesday. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $19.83 and a 12 month high of $94.75. The stock has a market cap of $5.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.43 and a beta of 0.97. The company’s 50 day moving average is $45.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $57.70. The company has a current ratio of 4.29, a quick ratio of 3.76 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 1st. The company reported ($1.17) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.88) by ($0.29). Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 209.10% and a negative net margin of 222.16%. The firm had revenue of $110.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $99.05 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($1.75) EPS. Apellis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 400.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -4.59 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

APLS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wedbush reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $29.00 price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, August 23rd. Mizuho started coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Thursday, November 2nd. They set a “neutral” rating and a $42.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $34.00 to $64.00 in a research note on Friday, September 15th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $82.00 price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, September 26th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $44.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 12th. Three 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $66.50.

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).