Victory Capital Management Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) by 16.6% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 616,272 shares of the company’s stock after selling 122,239 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals were worth $36,890,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,469,977 shares of the company’s stock worth $360,238,000 after buying an additional 68,687 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 79.8% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,542,209 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,746,000 after purchasing an additional 1,571,606 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 109.6% during the 4th quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,145,004 shares of the company’s stock valued at $128,400,000 after purchasing an additional 1,121,497 shares during the last quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc boosted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 126.6% during the 3rd quarter. Polar Capital Holdings Plc now owns 1,053,875 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,089,000 after purchasing an additional 588,875 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fiera Capital Corp boosted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 74.2% during the 3rd quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 919,690 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,985,000 after purchasing an additional 391,770 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

APLS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 6th. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 30th. Mizuho cut their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 29th. 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 note on Wednesday, April 17th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Friday, April 26th. Three equities research 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, Apellis Pharmaceuticals currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $77.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, CFO Timothy Eugene Sullivan sold 1,431 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.77, for a total transaction of $96,978.87. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,338 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,325,516.26. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Adam J. Townsend sold 1,148 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.77, for a total value of $77,799.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 92,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,265,539.81. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Timothy Eugene Sullivan sold 1,431 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.77, for a total value of $96,978.87. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 93,338 shares in the company, valued at $6,325,516.26. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 376,427 shares of company stock valued at $23,169,639 over the last ninety days. 7.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $48.81 on Tuesday. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a one year low of $19.83 and a one year high of $94.75. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $55.25 and its 200 day moving average is $57.54. The stock has a market cap of $5.92 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.90 and a beta of 0.97. 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 announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.73) EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.73). The company had revenue of $146.38 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $143.34 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 178.60% and a negative net margin of 133.34%. Apellis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was up 545.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned ($1.50) EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.27 earnings per share 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).