Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) Upgraded to “Hold” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Equillium in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen lowered Equillium from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, June 27th. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $12.00 price target on shares of Equillium in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $5.00 price objective on Equillium in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Leerink Partners raised Equillium from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $1.00 to $6.00 in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Equillium presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $7.57.

Equillium Trading Down 2.2%

Shares of Equillium stock opened at $2.18 on Tuesday. Equillium has a 1 year low of $0.76 and a 1 year high of $3.54. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $2.69 and its 200-day simple moving average is $2.22. The company has a market cap of $137.84 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.81 and a beta of 1.82.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Equillium

In other news, COO Christine Zedelmayer sold 86,012 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.80, for a total value of $240,833.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 62,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $175,240.80. This trade represents a 57.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Penny Tom sold 65,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.95, for a total value of $191,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 65,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $191,750. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 406,392 shares of company stock worth $1,224,898. 17.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equillium

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQ. Janus Henderson Group PLC bought a new stake in shares of Equillium during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $9,057,000. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Equillium in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $7,951,000. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in Equillium during the 3rd quarter worth $5,018,000. Eversept Partners LP acquired a new position in Equillium during the 1st quarter worth $2,998,000. Finally, Affinity Asset Advisors LLC bought a new position in Equillium in the 1st quarter valued at $2,453,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.05% of the company’s stock.

About Equillium

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.