Baird Financial Group Inc. Purchases 864 Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $APLS

Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) by 1.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 55,529 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 864 shares during the quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,214,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Cerity Partners LLC boosted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 16.7% during the first quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 54,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,191,000 after purchasing an additional 7,777 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 882,801 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,170,000 after purchasing an additional 22,507 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 147.8% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 74,325 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,625,000 after purchasing an additional 44,332 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 11.4% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 212,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,793,000 after purchasing an additional 21,822 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1,795.4% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,235 shares of the company’s stock valued at $224,000 after purchasing an additional 9,695 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 4.3%

Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $26.91 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 3.16, a current ratio of 3.77 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.90. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.10 and a 52 week high of $41.94. The company has a market capitalization of $3.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.79 and a beta of 0.73. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $23.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $21.29.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported ($0.33) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by $0.11. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 116.09% and a negative net margin of 30.24%.The firm had revenue of $171.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $187.91 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.30) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 10.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on APLS shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $35.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. Robert W. Baird raised their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $47.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Citigroup raised their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $41.00 to $46.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial lowered their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $52.00 to $50.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.12.

Insider Activity at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.80, for a total transaction of $139,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel directly owned 123,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,439,694. This trade represents a 3.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Cedric Francois sold 175,037 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.19, for a total value of $4,934,293.03. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 357,909 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,089,454.71. This represents a 32.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 399,638 shares of company stock valued at $9,910,962. 6.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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).