Natixis Invests $27.78 Million in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)

Natixis acquired a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 870,627 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $27,782,000. Natixis owned about 0.70% of Apellis Pharmaceuticals at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of APLS. XTX Topco Ltd acquired a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth approximately $206,000. Barclays PLC increased its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 18.0% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 255,897 shares of the company's stock worth $7,381,000 after acquiring an additional 39,019 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,810,526 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,229,000 after acquiring an additional 22,609 shares during the period. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter valued at $390,000. Finally, Exome Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 114.0% during the third quarter. Exome Asset Management LLC now owns 100,367 shares of the company's stock worth $2,895,000 after purchasing an additional 53,467 shares during the period. 96.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Scotiabank upped their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Wedbush reduced their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Eight investment 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $45.35.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

APLS stock traded up $0.12 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $17.49. 1,866,333 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,153,064. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.20 billion, a PE ratio of -8.62 and a beta of 0.85. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.02 and a 52 week high of $50.98. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $23.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.86.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.29) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 company had revenue of $212.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.92 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.73) earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 45.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,569 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.10, for a total value of $139,781.90. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 138,730 shares in the company, valued at $3,482,123. This represents a 3.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Cedric Francois sold 2,824 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.52, for a total value of $83,364.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 415,695 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,271,316.40. This represents a 0.67 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 11,005 shares of company stock valued at $299,037. Insiders own 6.80% of the company's stock.

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).