Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC Takes $229,000 Position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)

Prime Capital Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 3,818 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 352.8% in the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 13,710 shares of the company’s stock valued at $821,000 after buying an additional 10,682 shares during the period. Altfest L J & Co. Inc. acquired a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $276,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 109.6% in the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,145,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,400,000 after buying an additional 1,121,497 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co. acquired a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $221,000. Finally, Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning acquired a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at about $245,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Down 7.1 %

Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $51.79 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.24 billion, a PE ratio of -11.56 and a beta of 0.88. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $19.83 and a 52-week high of $94.75. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $61.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $56.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48, a quick ratio of 2.50 and a current ratio of 3.10.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.73) earnings per share for the quarter, hitting 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 quarterly revenue was up 545.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($1.50) EPS. On average, analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, insider Pascal Deschatelets sold 69,107 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.17, for a total transaction of $3,743,526.19. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,115,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $60,452,799.11. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Pascal Deschatelets sold 69,107 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.17, for a total transaction of $3,743,526.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,115,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $60,452,799.11. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jeffrey Eisele sold 438 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $66.81, for a total value of $29,262.78. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 72,650 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,853,746.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 422,279 shares of company stock valued at $26,174,364 in the last 90 days. 7.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 30th. Raymond James increased their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 11th. Mizuho restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $60.00 price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $65.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $78.60.

About Apellis Pharmaceuticals

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).