SG Americas Securities LLC Purchases 372,289 Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $APLS

SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) by 825.4% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 417,392 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 372,289 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC owned approximately 0.33% of Apellis Pharmaceuticals worth $9,446,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in APLS. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 80.0% during the 2nd quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,924 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 855 shares during the period. Osaic Holdings Inc. boosted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 141.2% in the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,682 shares of the company’s stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,570 shares during the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 15.6% in the second quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,855 shares of the company’s stock valued at $84,000 after acquiring an additional 655 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 338.5% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,429 shares of the company’s stock worth $94,000 after acquiring an additional 4,191 shares during the period. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 748.8% during the 2nd quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 6,892 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,000 after acquiring an additional 6,080 shares during the last quarter. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on APLS shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $55.00 to $48.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 19th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Monday, December 29th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $26.00 to $18.00 in a research report on Friday, September 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 8th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.94.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

APLS stock opened at $27.30 on Friday. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $16.10 and a 1-year high of $31.17. The company has a current ratio of 3.54, a quick ratio of 3.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market cap of $3.45 billion, a PE ratio of 88.07 and a beta of 0.31. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $22.79 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.31.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.64. The company had revenue of $458.58 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $364.58 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 18.94% and a net margin of 4.43%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 133.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($0.46) earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.49, for a total transaction of $122,450.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel directly owned 103,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,540,347.70. This represents a 4.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Timothy Eugene Sullivan sold 10,000 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.03, for a total transaction of $280,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 110,936 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,109,536.08. The trade was a 8.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 25,000 shares of company stock valued at $629,150. 6.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Apellis Pharmaceuticals

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc, traded as NASDAQ:APLS, is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on the development of novel therapies targeting the complement cascade for the treatment of rare and debilitating diseases. The company’s research and development efforts center on modulating complement proteins to address a range of ophthalmologic, hematologic and renal conditions. Apellis leverages its proprietary compstatin technology platform to design targeted inhibitors intended to improve patient outcomes and quality of life.

The company’s lead marketed product, Syfovre (pegcetacoplan), is an intravitreal complement C3 inhibitor approved for geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration, with ongoing investigations in other retinal disorders.