Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by $0.01, FiscalAI reports.

Equillium Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EQ traded up $0.35 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $2.36. 537,963 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 511,463. Equillium has a one year low of $0.76 and a one year high of $3.54. The company has a market cap of $149.22 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.80 and a beta of 1.82. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $2.65 and a 200 day moving average of $2.23.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research upgraded Equillium from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $5.00 target price on shares of Equillium in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Equillium in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $7.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Equillium from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday. Finally, Clear Str upgraded Equillium to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $7.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Penny Tom sold 65,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.95, for a total transaction of $191,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 65,000 shares in the company, valued at $191,750. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Christine Zedelmayer sold 14,584 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.93, for a total transaction of $42,731.12. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 62,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $183,376.98. This represents a 18.90% 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 ninety days, insiders sold 406,392 shares of company stock worth $1,224,898. 17.84% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Equillium

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Virtu Financial LLC boosted its position in Equillium by 133.4% in the third quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 23,779 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 13,591 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Equillium by 13.0% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 155,420 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,000 after purchasing an additional 17,900 shares during the last quarter. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Equillium by 35.0% in the 4th quarter. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd now owns 93,123 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,000 after purchasing an additional 24,132 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equillium in the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Equillium by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 345,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $535,000 after buying an additional 34,491 shares during the period. 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.