T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. Cuts Stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. decreased its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) by 98.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,713 shares of the company’s stock after selling 2,937,559 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals were worth $1,523,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 18.0% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 255,897 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,381,000 after purchasing an additional 39,019 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $390,000. Exome Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 114.0% in the third quarter. Exome Asset Management LLC now owns 100,367 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,895,000 after buying an additional 53,467 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 23.3% during the third 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 period. Finally, Eastern Bank raised its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 87.0% in the fourth quarter. Eastern Bank now owns 21,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $686,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares in the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:APLS opened at $17.49 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $2.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.62 and a beta of 0.85. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.66. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.98 and a 52 week high of $49.38. The company has a quick ratio of 3.73, a current ratio of 4.36 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.29) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.73) EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, CEO Cedric Francois sold 2,824 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.52, for a total transaction of $83,364.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 415,695 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,271,316.40. The trade was a 0.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,569 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.10, for a total value of $139,781.90. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 138,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,482,123. This represents a 3.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 11,005 shares of company stock worth $299,037. 6.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on APLS shares. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $57.00 price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wedbush lowered their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.35.

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).