Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. Acquires Shares of 13,478 Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)

Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 13,478 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $430,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of APLS. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 2,707.1% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 786 shares of the company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 758 shares during the period. AlphaQuest LLC grew its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 8,083.8% in the fourth quarter. AlphaQuest LLC now owns 17,186 shares of the company's stock valued at $548,000 after purchasing an additional 16,976 shares during the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 10,967.2% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 329,582 shares of the company's stock valued at $10,876,000 after buying an additional 326,604 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. increased its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 109,883 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,506,000 after buying an additional 10,482 shares in the last quarter. Finally, E Fund Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 30.8% during the 4th quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd. now owns 17,162 shares of the company's stock worth $548,000 after buying an additional 4,046 shares during the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APLS has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Wedbush lowered their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Apellis Pharmaceuticals presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $45.53.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Caroline Baumal sold 2,816 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.81, for a total value of $95,208.96. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 55,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,878,483.60. This trade represents a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Cedric Francois sold 13,551 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.43, for a total value of $412,356.93. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 418,519 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,735,533.17. The trade was a 3.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 66,054 shares of company stock worth $1,952,719 over the last ninety days. 6.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 0.1 %

APLS stock traded up $0.03 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $23.79. 1,683,390 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,944,074. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.99 billion, a PE ratio of -11.72 and a beta of 0.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 4.36 and a quick ratio of 3.73. The business's 50 day moving average price is $27.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $29.78. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $23.25 and a 52-week high of $59.91.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Friday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.29) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.37) by $0.08. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 103.11% and a negative net margin of 34.97%. The business had revenue of $212.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $197.92 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.73) EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 45.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

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).