Old West Investment Management LLC Acquires New Stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)

Old West Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) during the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 102,403 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,953,000. Apellis Pharmaceuticals comprises about 1.1% of Old West Investment Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 25th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of APLS. HighVista Strategies LLC boosted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 4.1% during the 2nd quarter. HighVista Strategies LLC now owns 7,566 shares of the company’s stock worth $290,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares in the last quarter. Amalgamated Bank boosted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter. Amalgamated Bank now owns 6,995 shares of the company’s stock worth $268,000 after purchasing an additional 359 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 34.8% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 2,632 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 679 shares in the last quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 21.6% during the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $130,000 after buying an additional 781 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wolverine Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. 96.29% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $92.00 to $55.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. William Blair assumed coverage on Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $43.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $71.00 to $36.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $61.00 to $47.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Apellis Pharmaceuticals presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $49.94.

Insider Transactions at Apellis Pharmaceuticals

In other news, Director A. Sinclair Dunlop sold 37,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.23, for a total transaction of $1,340,510.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 100,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,623,000. The trade was a 27.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 6.80% of the company’s stock.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Trading Down 1.1 %

NASDAQ APLS opened at $34.64 on Wednesday. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 12 month low of $24.34 and a 12 month high of $73.80. The company has a 50-day moving average of $29.34 and a 200-day moving average of $34.88. 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 has a market cap of $4.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.06 and a beta of 0.94.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 5th. The company reported ($0.46) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.32) by ($0.14). Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 34.97% and a negative return on equity of 103.11%. The company had revenue of $196.83 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $200.00 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned ($1.17) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 78.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.72 earnings per share for the current year.

About Apellis Pharmaceuticals

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).