Virtu Financial LLC Has $228,000 Position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)

Virtu Financial LLC lessened its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) by 47.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 7,157 shares of the company’s stock after selling 6,369 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC’s holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals were worth $228,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 9.4% in the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 21,649 shares of the company’s stock worth $691,000 after acquiring an additional 1,864 shares during the period. Xponance Inc. lifted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 5.6% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 14,072 shares of the company’s stock worth $449,000 after purchasing an additional 749 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 357.2% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,175 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 918 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $41,014,000. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at $430,000. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on APLS. Wedbush decreased their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $45.53.

Insider Activity

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 6,247 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.70, for a total value of $179,288.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 307,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,822,810.50. This trade represents a 1.99 % 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 the SEC website. Also, insider Caroline Baumal sold 2,816 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.81, for a total value of $95,208.96. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 55,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,878,483.60. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 66,054 shares of company stock valued at $1,952,719 over the last 90 days. 6.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of APLS stock opened at $24.27 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 4.36, a quick ratio of 3.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.96 and a beta of 0.92. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $27.04 and its 200-day moving average is $29.59. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.25 and a 1 year high of $59.91.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.29) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.37) by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $212.50 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.92 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 103.11% and a negative net margin of 34.97%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 45.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.73) EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current fiscal 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).