J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG Sells 45,184 Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. $APLS

J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG trimmed its position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) by 39.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 70,500 shares of the company’s stock after selling 45,184 shares during the quarter. J. Safra Sarasin Holding AG owned 0.06% of Apellis Pharmaceuticals worth $1,595,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in APLS. Marshall Wace LLP boosted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 11,373.8% in the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 2,704,837 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,821,000 after acquiring an additional 2,681,263 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 2nd quarter worth about $40,977,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 46.6% in the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 5,976,414 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,452,000 after purchasing an additional 1,898,995 shares in the last quarter. Amundi boosted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 386.7% in the 2nd quarter. Amundi now owns 1,604,105 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,585,000 after purchasing an additional 1,274,523 shares during the period. Finally, Camber Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $14,714,000. Institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Timothy Eugene Sullivan sold 10,287 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total transaction of $223,947.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 93,901 shares in the company, valued at $2,044,224.77. This represents a 9.87% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Pascal Deschatelets sold 5,928 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.77, for a total transaction of $129,052.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,151,382 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,065,586.14. The trade was a 0.51% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 125,169 shares of company stock valued at $2,700,681. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America raised shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $28.00 target price on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 21st. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $29.00 to $26.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $39.00 to $35.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 13th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 8th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.00.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Up 5.8%

Shares of APLS stock opened at $23.07 on Thursday. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.10 and a fifty-two week high of $30.60. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $23.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a quick ratio of 3.10 and a current ratio of 3.54. The company has a market cap of $2.92 billion, a PE ratio of 74.42 and a beta of 0.31.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 30th. The company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.64. The company had revenue of $458.58 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $364.58 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a return on equity of 18.94% and a net margin of 4.43%.Apellis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 133.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.46) EPS. Equities analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Company Profile

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.