Sphera Funds Management LTD. Has $6.58 Million Stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)

Sphera Funds Management LTD. lowered its stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 206,251 shares of the company’s stock after selling 9,622 shares during the quarter. Apellis Pharmaceuticals makes up approximately 1.2% of Sphera Funds Management LTD.’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Sphera Funds Management LTD.’s holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals were worth $6,581,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in APLS. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 758 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 357.2% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,175 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 918 shares during the last quarter. US Bancorp DE grew its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 70.0% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 3,223 shares of the company’s stock valued at $103,000 after purchasing an additional 1,327 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 1,819.2% in the fourth quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,992 shares of the company’s stock valued at $127,000 after purchasing an additional 3,784 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 89.0% in the fourth quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 6,107 shares of the company’s stock worth $195,000 after buying an additional 2,876 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

APLS has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $44.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $55.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 8th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $26.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $28.00 to $20.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.42.

Insider Activity

In other news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,569 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.10, for a total transaction of $139,781.90. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 138,730 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,482,123. The trade was a 3.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 6.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock opened at $16.36 on Friday. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.10 and a 52-week high of $43.99. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.06 billion, a PE ratio of -8.06 and a beta of 0.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a current ratio of 4.36 and a quick ratio of 3.73. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $20.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $26.77.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.74) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.36) by ($0.38). Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 34.97% and a negative return on equity of 103.11%. The business had revenue of $149.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $197.61 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.54) earnings per share. Apellis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current year.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Profile

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).