Corton Capital Inc. Cuts Holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)

Corton Capital Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) by 7.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,595 shares of the company’s stock after selling 636 shares during the period. Corton Capital Inc.’s holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals were worth $242,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Boxer Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth $45,504,000. National Bank of Canada FI raised its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 266,361.5% in the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,385,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $44,214,000 after purchasing an additional 1,385,080 shares in the last quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,014,000. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,222,222 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,011,000 after buying an additional 1,111,111 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,662,000. Institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on APLS shares. 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. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Wedbush decreased their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $29.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $40.00 to $29.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 2nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.56.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of APLS opened at $17.99 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $21.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 3.73 and a current ratio of 4.36. The company has a market capitalization of $2.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.86 and a beta of 0.73. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.65 and a fifty-two week high of $44.12.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.74) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $197.61 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned ($0.54) EPS. Apellis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue for the quarter was down 3.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,569 shares of the 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $3,482,123. This represents a 3.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 6,115 shares of company stock valued at $154,684. Corporate insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

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).