Cedric Francois Sells 13,551 Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) Stock

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) CEO Cedric Francois sold 13,551 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.43, for a total transaction of $412,356.93. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 418,519 shares in the company, valued at $12,735,533.17. This represents a 3.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Cedric Francois also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, January 17th, Cedric Francois sold 6,007 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.96, for a total transaction of $179,969.72.
• On Monday, January 13th, Cedric Francois sold 6,247 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.70, for a total transaction of $179,288.90.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ APLS opened at $30.76 on Friday. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $24.34 and a 1-year high of $71.90. The company has a market capitalization of $3.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.15 and a beta of 0.94. The business has a 50-day moving average of $31.95 and a 200-day moving average of $33.25.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.46) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 period last year, the firm posted ($1.17) earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 78.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Braidwell LP increased its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 410.8% during the 3rd quarter. Braidwell LP now owns 3,125,183 shares of the company’s stock worth $90,130,000 after buying an additional 2,513,383 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 191.9% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,144,415 shares of the company’s stock worth $61,845,000 after acquiring an additional 1,409,707 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 23.3% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,884,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $112,036,000 after acquiring an additional 735,160 shares in the last quarter. Sphera Funds Management LTD. acquired a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the third quarter worth about $6,226,000. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 337.3% in the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 246,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $9,177,000 after purchasing an additional 190,420 shares during the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APLS has been the topic of several analyst reports. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $38.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 24th. Scotiabank decreased their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $35.00 to $30.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $61.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $43.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, November 6th. Eight 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. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.71.

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, 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).