Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. Acquires 271,122 Shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)

Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. lifted its holdings in Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) by 44.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 885,165 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 271,122 shares during the period. Apellis Pharmaceuticals accounts for approximately 2.8% of Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. owned 0.75% of Apellis Pharmaceuticals worth $52,986,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Covestor Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals by 564.2% in the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 797 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 677 shares during the period. CWA Asset Management Group LLC bought a new position in Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the fourth quarter valued at $205,000. HC Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the fourth quarter valued at $210,000. Woodward Diversified Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter worth about $210,000. Finally, Whittier Trust Co. purchased a new position in shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals during the 4th quarter worth about $221,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.29% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on APLS. Citigroup decreased their price objective on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $60.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $85.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Wednesday, May 8th. Wedbush dropped their target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $67.00 to $57.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Apellis Pharmaceuticals from $78.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 6th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $92.00 target price on shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Tuesday, May 28th. Four 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 MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $74.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Pascal Deschatelets sold 78,907 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.35, for a total value of $3,341,711.45. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,115,983 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $47,261,880.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Mark Jeffrey Delong sold 9,913 shares of Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock in a transaction on Monday, March 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.90, for a total value of $564,049.70. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 54,693 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,112,031.70. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Pascal Deschatelets sold 78,907 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $42.35, for a total value of $3,341,711.45. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,115,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $47,261,880.05. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 180,792 shares of company stock valued at $8,962,496 over the last quarter. 6.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ APLS traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $42.56. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 725,761 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,484,264. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.17 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.21 and a beta of 0.95. Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has a 1-year low of $19.83 and a 1-year high of $94.75. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $45.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $56.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35, a quick ratio of 3.02 and a current ratio of 3.77.

Apellis Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:APLS) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 7th. The company reported ($0.54) earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of ($0.54). Apellis Pharmaceuticals had a negative net margin of 79.67% and a negative return on equity of 160.77%. The company had revenue of $172.33 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $163.37 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($1.56) EPS. Apellis Pharmaceuticals’s revenue was up 284.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. will post -1.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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).