Equillium, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQ) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Equillium, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQ) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation, six have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $7.5714.

A number of research analysts have issued reports on EQ shares. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Equillium in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $10.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Equillium from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Leerink Partners upgraded Equillium from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $1.00 to $6.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $7.00 price objective on shares of Equillium in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, B. Riley Financial started coverage on Equillium in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $6.00 price objective for the company.

Equillium Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EQ opened at $2.79 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $176.41 million, a PE ratio of -8.72 and a beta of 1.77. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $2.13 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1.66. Equillium has a 1 year low of $0.27 and a 1 year high of $3.12.

Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.02). Sell-side analysts anticipate that Equillium will post -0.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equillium

In other news, COO Christine Zedelmayer sold 181,219 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.00, for a total transaction of $362,438.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 62,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $125,172. This represents a 74.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Penny Tom sold 65,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.95, for a total value of $191,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 65,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $191,750. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 462,364 shares of company stock valued at $1,122,318 in the last quarter. 17.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EQ. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Equillium during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Virtu Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Equillium by 133.4% during the 3rd quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 23,779 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 13,591 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Equillium during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd bought a new position in shares of Equillium during the 3rd quarter worth $99,000. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp bought a new position in shares of Equillium during the 1st quarter worth $100,000. Institutional investors own 27.05% of the company’s stock.

Equillium Company Profile

Equillium, Inc (NASDAQ: EQ) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on developing novel immunotherapies to treat severe autoimmune diseases and prevent organ transplant rejection. The company’s lead therapeutic candidate, EQ001 (itolizumab), is a humanized monoclonal antibody that modulates T-cell activation by targeting the CD6 receptor. Equillium’s pipeline also includes additional biologic candidates aimed at addressing indications such as acute graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) and lupus nephritis.

Founded in 2015 and headquartered in La Jolla, California, Equillium in-licensed itolizumab from Biocon Limited, leveraging the antibody’s established safety profile in earlier clinical studies.