Short Interest in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) Increases By 20.1%

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant growth in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 20,820,000 shares, a growth of 20.1% from the February 13th total of 17,340,000 shares. Approximately 18.0% of the company's stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 1,990,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 10.5 days.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, insider Caroline Baumal sold 2,816 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.81, for a total value of $95,208.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 55,560 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,878,483.60. The trade was a 4.82 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,569 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals 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 completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 66,117 shares of company stock valued at $1,954,803. 6.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 23.3% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 3,884,730 shares of the company's stock worth $112,036,000 after purchasing an additional 735,160 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 52.9% during the third quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 159,700 shares of the company's stock worth $4,606,000 after purchasing an additional 55,282 shares in the last quarter. Old West Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the third quarter worth about $2,953,000. KBC Group NV increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 3,862.3% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 104,287 shares of the company's stock worth $3,328,000 after purchasing an additional 101,655 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighVista Strategies LLC increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 375.5% during the third quarter. HighVista Strategies LLC now owns 35,975 shares of the company's stock worth $1,038,000 after purchasing an additional 28,409 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.29% of the company's stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $24.14. The stock had a trading volume of 2,736,427 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,940,119. The stock's 50 day moving average is $27.53 and its 200 day moving average is $30.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.03 billion, a PE ratio of -11.89 and a beta of 0.92. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a twelve month low of $23.77 and a twelve month high of $59.91. The company has a current ratio of 4.36, a quick ratio of 3.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Friday, February 28th. The company reported ($0.29) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.37) by $0.08. The business had revenue of $212.50 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.92 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 34.97% and a negative return on equity of 103.11%. The company's revenue was up 45.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.73) earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $26.00 to $25.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $57.00 price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered 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 note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Wedbush lowered 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. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Apellis Pharmaceuticals has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $45.53.

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).