Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) Short Interest Up 38.2% in October

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) saw a significant increase in short interest during the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 21,090,000 shares, an increase of 38.2% from the September 30th total of 15,260,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 2,120,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 9.9 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director A. Sinclair Dunlop sold 37,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.23, for a total value of $1,340,510.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 100,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,623,000. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 191.9% during the third quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,144,415 shares of the company's stock valued at $61,845,000 after purchasing an additional 1,409,707 shares during the period. Iron Triangle Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at $32,329,000. Fiera Capital Corp boosted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 47.7% during the second quarter. Fiera Capital Corp now owns 1,401,190 shares of the company's stock valued at $53,750,000 after purchasing an additional 452,753 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 337.3% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 246,880 shares of the company's stock valued at $9,177,000 after purchasing an additional 190,420 shares during the period. Finally, Redmile Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter valued at $9,111,000. Institutional investors own 96.29% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APLS has been the topic of several analyst reports. William Blair initiated coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $64.00 to $57.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, September 13th. Jefferies Financial Group reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, July 31st. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $96.00 to $92.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, September 23rd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $66.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $65.41.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 3.3 %

APLS stock traded down $0.90 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $26.68. 1,122,746 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,685,060. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.73, a quick ratio of 4.18 and a current ratio of 5.08. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a one year low of $26.28 and a one year high of $73.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.24 billion, a PE ratio of -7.71 and a beta of 0.87. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $33.22 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $38.38.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The company reported ($0.30) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.33) by $0.03. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 52.99% and a negative return on equity of 138.32%. The business had revenue of $199.70 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $190.89 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($1.02) earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 110.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.37 EPS 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).