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

Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) was upgraded by research analysts at Zacks Research from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Equillium from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $5.00 price target on Equillium in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Equillium in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $12.00 price objective on shares of Equillium in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Equillium in a research report on Monday, July 13th. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $7.57.

Equillium Price Performance

Equillium stock opened at $2.18 on Tuesday. Equillium has a fifty-two week low of $0.76 and a fifty-two week high of $3.54. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $2.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2.22. The firm 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.02). As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Equillium will post -0.24 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Penny Tom sold 65,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.95, for a total transaction of $191,750.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 65,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $191,750. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Stephen Connelly sold 30,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total value of $91,066.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 762,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,240,353.50. The trade was a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Equillium

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP bought a new position in Equillium during the first quarter worth about $31,000. Virtu Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Equillium by 133.4% in the 3rd quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 23,779 shares of the company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 13,591 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equillium in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp acquired a new position in shares of Equillium in the 1st quarter worth approximately $100,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada acquired a new position in shares of Equillium in the 4th quarter worth approximately $124,000. 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.