National Bank of Canada FI Raises Position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)

National Bank of Canada FI lifted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) by 266,361.5% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,385,600 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,385,080 shares during the quarter. National Bank of Canada FI owned about 1.11% of Apellis Pharmaceuticals worth $44,214,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 10,046,025 shares of the company’s stock worth $320,569,000 after buying an additional 230,450 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 23.3% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 51.6% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 2,760,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $88,084,000 after purchasing an additional 939,289 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,810,526 shares of the company’s stock valued at $52,229,000 after purchasing an additional 22,609 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth about $41,014,000. Institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $23.00 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.89 billion, a P/E ratio of -11.33 and a beta of 0.92. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $21.70 and a 52 week high of $58.12. The company has a quick ratio of 3.73, a current ratio of 4.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $26.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.21.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 6,247 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.70, for a total transaction of $179,288.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 307,415 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,822,810.50. This represents a 1.99 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,569 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.10, for a total transaction of $139,781.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 138,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,482,123. The trade was a 3.86 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 66,054 shares of company stock valued at $1,952,719 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

APLS has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their target price 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. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $57.00 price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Wedbush cut their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $45.59.

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).