California Public Employees Retirement System Sells 38,011 Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)

California Public Employees Retirement System reduced its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) by 20.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 145,833 shares of the company’s stock after selling 38,011 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System owned about 0.12% of Apellis Pharmaceuticals worth $8,730,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sippican Capital Advisors grew its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Sippican Capital Advisors now owns 16,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $958,000 after acquiring an additional 170 shares during the period. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina grew its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 0.5% in the third quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 43,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,666,000 after acquiring an additional 230 shares during the period. First Horizon Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 69.0% in the third quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 649 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 265 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 2.4% in the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 23,211 shares of the company’s stock valued at $883,000 after acquiring an additional 541 shares during the period. Finally, Covestor Ltd grew its stake 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 during the period. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APLS has been the subject of a number of research reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. UBS Group lifted their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $87.00 to $89.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 4th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $81.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Tuesday, February 6th. Wedbush cut their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $57.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 781 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.77, for a total value of $52,928.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 103,390 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,006,740.30. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 781 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.77, for a total value of $52,928.37. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 103,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,006,740.30. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director A. Sinclair Dunlop sold 18,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $57.18, for a total value of $1,068,179.58. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 173,998 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,949,205.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 376,427 shares of company stock worth $23,169,639 over the last ninety days. 7.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of APLS opened at $47.49 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.76 billion, a PE ratio of -10.60 and a beta of 0.97. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $56.13 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $57.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a current ratio of 3.10 and a quick ratio of 2.50. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $19.83 and a 1 year high of $94.75.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.73) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.73). The firm had revenue of $146.38 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $143.34 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 178.60% and a negative net margin of 133.34%. The business’s revenue was up 545.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted ($1.50) earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.34 EPS for the current 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).