Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) Shares Sold by Renaissance Technologies LLC

Renaissance Technologies LLC cut its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Free Report) by 27.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 271,913 shares of the company's stock after selling 100,418 shares during the quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC owned 0.22% of Apellis Pharmaceuticals worth $8,677,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 2,707.1% in the 4th quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 786 shares of the company's stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 758 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 357.2% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,175 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after acquiring an additional 918 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 70.0% during the 4th quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,223 shares of the company's stock valued at $103,000 after acquiring an additional 1,327 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 89.0% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 6,107 shares of the company's stock valued at $195,000 after acquiring an additional 2,876 shares during the last quarter. Finally, M&T Bank Corp acquired a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at about $216,000. 96.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,569 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.10, for a total transaction of $139,781.90. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 138,730 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,482,123. This trade represents a 3.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Cedric Francois sold 2,824 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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. Insiders have sold 11,005 shares of company stock worth $299,037 over the last ninety days. 6.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on APLS. Wedbush dropped their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. HC Wainwright reissued a "buy" rating and set a $57.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Eight 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 MarketBeat.com, Apellis Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $45.35.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Up 4.7 %

Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock traded up $0.81 on Wednesday, hitting $18.18. 213,994 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 2,146,653. The stock has a market cap of $2.28 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.96 and a beta of 0.85. 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 firm's 50-day moving average is $23.31 and its 200 day moving average is $27.86. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.02 and a 52-week high of $50.98.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last released its 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. 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 analysts' expectations of $197.92 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.73) EPS. The business's revenue was up 45.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate 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).