Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) Short Interest Down 16.0% in January

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) saw a significant decline in short interest in January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 18,040,000 shares, a decline of 16.0% from the December 31st total of 21,480,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 3,020,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 6.0 days.

Insider Activity at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In related news, CAO James George Chopas sold 1,096 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.43, for a total value of $33,351.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 48,138 shares in the company, valued at $1,464,839.34. The trade was a 2.23 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Timothy Eugene Sullivan sold 2,170 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.70, for a total transaction of $62,279.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 88,100 shares in the company, valued at $2,528,470. This represents a 2.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 60,002 shares of company stock worth $1,800,119 over the last ninety days. 6.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Squarepoint Ops LLC bought a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at about $2,350,000. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky bought a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $725,000. Duncan Williams Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $609,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB increased its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 15.5% during the 3rd quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 27,600 shares of the company's stock valued at $796,000 after purchasing an additional 3,700 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWM LLC raised its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 471.5% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 23,722 shares of the company's stock valued at $684,000 after buying an additional 19,571 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.29% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Bank of America dropped their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $61.00 to $47.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $92.00 to $55.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $36.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $26.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $63.00 to $51.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $46.71.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of APLS traded up $1.59 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $30.37. 1,386,897 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,899,888. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 52 week low of $24.34 and a 52 week high of $71.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 3.73 and a current ratio of 4.36. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $32.06 and a 200-day moving average of $32.63. The stock has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -14.96 and a beta of 0.96.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.46) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.32) by ($0.14). The firm had revenue of $196.83 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $200.00 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 34.97% and a negative return on equity of 103.11%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 78.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($1.17) EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 EPS for the current fiscal 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).