Royal Bank of Canada Purchases 1,376,832 Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)

Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) by 969.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,518,827 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,376,832 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada’s holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals were worth $48,465,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of APLS. Boxer Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at $45,504,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 266,361.5% during the fourth quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 1,385,600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $44,214,000 after purchasing an additional 1,385,080 shares during the period. Cibc World Markets Corp bought a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at $41,014,000. Point72 Asset Management L.P. bought a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at $40,461,000. Finally, Avoro Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 10.0% during the fourth quarter. Avoro Capital Advisors LLC now owns 12,222,222 shares of the company’s stock valued at $390,011,000 after purchasing an additional 1,111,111 shares during the period. 96.29% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, General Counsel David O. Watson sold 5,569 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.10, for a total transaction of $139,781.90. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 138,730 shares in the company, valued at $3,482,123. This trade represents a 3.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 6.50% of the company’s stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

NASDAQ:APLS opened at $17.42 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.58 and a beta of 0.73. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 52-week low of $16.10 and a 52-week high of $43.99. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $19.91 and a 200 day moving average of $26.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.91, a quick ratio of 3.73 and a current ratio of 4.36.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $149.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $197.61 million. Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 34.97% and a negative return on equity of 103.11%. Apellis Pharmaceuticals’s quarterly revenue was down 3.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.54) EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on APLS. Raymond James lowered Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “strong-buy” rating to an “outperform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $75.00 to $52.00 in a report on Friday, May 9th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $36.00 to $32.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $21.00 to $18.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 8th. Finally, Bank of America lowered Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $41.00 to $23.00 in a report on Friday, May 9th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $40.42.

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).