We recently compiled a list of the 10 Mid-Cap Stocks Insiders Are Selling Recently. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS) stands against the other feminist stocks. We previously covered 10 Mid-Cap Stocks Insiders Are Buying Recently.
Why should investors analyze insider trading activity? Insiders, or people in high positions within a company—such as executives and directors—can have crucial insights into the company’s strategic moves, plans, and initiatives. When, for example, a CEO invests their own capital in company stocks, it can indicate strong confidence in the company’s future results.
What does it mean when insiders are selling their shares? It doesn’t necessarily mean bad news for the stock. Sometimes, large shareholders just want to trim their holdings to more appropriate position sizes based on the risk/reward potential.
It is important to note that both insider selling and buying can be driven by various motives. Therefore, any insider trading activity should be analyzed within the broader context of the company’s fundamentals, industry trends, and overall market conditions. Many insider purchases don’t necessarily mean the company will be successful. That’s why due diligence before any investment is of the utmost importance. Investors should also take into account and carefully analyze underlying reasons for insider transactions. However, insider trading activity in combination with other relevant factors can offer valuable insights into a company’s capabilities, helping investors make more informed investment decisions.
To identify the 10 mid-cap stocks insiders are selling recently, we considered only stocks with a market capitalization of between $2 billion and $10 billion. We first used Insider Monkey’s insider trading stock screener and looked for stocks with at least two insiders buying over the last two months.
With each stock we note the number of recent insider sales and the company’s current market capitalization. But why is it important to follow insider activity? Our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds, focusing on insider trading and stock picks from hedge fund investor newsletters and conferences. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here)
A biomedical scientist in a lab coat conducting research on biopharmaceutical compounds.
Apellis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:APLS)
Number of Insiders Selling: 11
Market Capitalization: $3.757B
Apellis Pharmaceuticals is another biopharmaceutical company on this list of 10 mid-cap stocks insiders are selling recently. The company is focused on the development of innovative therapies for various serious diseases, by controlling a part of the immune system known as the complement cascade. The company’s two medicines targeting C3, the central protein in the cascade, have been approved. One of these is the first ever therapy for geographic atrophy, a leading cause of blindness around the world. In January, this medicine, Syfovre, was also approved for use in Australia.
Over the last two months, 11 insiders, including CEO, CFO, and CMO sold around $2.86 million worth of Apellis Pharmaceuticals shares at an average price of around $29.95 per share. The stock is now trading at $28.68, having lost 10.12% since the beginning of the year.
Over the last 12 months, the stock declined 57.67%, with some analysts attributing this decline to lack of approval of Syvovre in Europe. However, according to data from Stock Analysis, 18 analyst have an average “Buy” rating on Apellis Pharmaceuticals stock, with the 12-month price target of $46.71.
For the third quarter of 2024, the company reported it has generated $152 million in Syfovre US net product revenue. Total revenue for the period amounted to $196.8 million, which compares to total revenue of $110.4 million, including $75.3 million in Syfovre US net product revenue for the third quarter of 2023.
Overall APLS ranks 2nd on our list of the mid-cap stocks insiders are selling recently. While we acknowledge the potential of APLS as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than APLS but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
