Hudson Bay Capital Management LP Buys 85,000 Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)

Hudson Bay Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) by 32.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 345,000 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 85,000 shares during the quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP owned 0.28% of Apellis Pharmaceuticals worth $11,009,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Boxer Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,504,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 266,361.5% during the 4th quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,385,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,214,000 after acquiring an additional 1,385,080 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,014,000. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 10.0% during the 4th quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,222,222 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,011,000 after acquiring an additional 1,111,111 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,662,000. 96.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APLS has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $44.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 7th. Wedbush dropped their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $55.00 to $47.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $41.37.

Insider Transactions at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,569 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.10, for a total value of $139,781.90. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 138,730 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,482,123. This represents a 3.86% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold 6,115 shares of company stock valued at $154,684 in the last quarter. Insiders own 6.50% of the company’s stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Stock Performance

NASDAQ APLS opened at $17.30 on Monday. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.65 and a 1 year high of $43.99. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $2.17 billion, a PE ratio of -8.52 and a beta of 0.73. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.05.

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

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Company 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).