Investors Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS)

Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) saw unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 18,182 call options on the company. This represents an increase of approximately 703% compared to the average volume of 2,265 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on APLS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 6th. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $92.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Friday, April 26th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $81.00 price target on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a report on Tuesday, February 6th. Jefferies Financial Group raised Apellis Pharmaceuticals from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the company from $68.00 to $80.00 in a report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $60.00 to $52.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Monday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, insider Adam J. Townsend sold 1,148 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $67.77, for a total transaction of $77,799.96. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 92,453 shares in the company, valued at $6,265,539.81. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Apellis Pharmaceuticals news, insider Pascal Deschatelets sold 69,107 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $54.17, for a total transaction of $3,743,526.19. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 1,115,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $60,452,799.11. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Adam J. Townsend sold 1,148 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $67.77, for a total value of $77,799.96. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 92,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,265,539.81. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 376,427 shares of company stock worth $23,169,639. 7.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth $3,218,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 254.5% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 84,604 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,973,000 after buying an additional 60,741 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 69.1% during the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 23,182 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,363,000 after buying an additional 9,472 shares during the period. Peregrine Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth $5,447,000. Finally, Simplicity Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the first quarter worth $4,599,000. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

APLS stock opened at $46.05 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $56.53 and a two-hundred day moving average of $57.45. The company has a quick ratio of 2.50, a current ratio of 3.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market cap of $5.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.28 and a beta of 0.88. Apellis Pharmaceuticals has a 52-week low of $19.83 and a 52-week high of $94.75.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, February 27th. The company reported ($0.73) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of ($0.73). Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative return on equity of 178.60% and a negative net margin of 133.34%. The company had revenue of $146.38 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $143.34 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned ($1.50) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 545.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals will post -1.34 earnings per share for the current 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).