Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) Upgraded at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) from a sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Saturday morning.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Equillium in a report on Monday, July 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus set a $5.00 price target on shares of Equillium in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Clear Str raised shares of Equillium to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $12.00 price objective on shares of Equillium in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $7.00 price objective on shares of Equillium in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $7.57.

Equillium Trading Up 5.1%

EQ stock opened at $2.48 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $2.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2.24. The stock has a market cap of $156.81 million, a PE ratio of -12.40 and a beta of 1.83. Equillium has a 1 year low of $0.76 and a 1 year high of $3.54.

Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.05) by $0.01. On average, analysts forecast that Equillium will post -0.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equillium

In other Equillium news, insider Stephen Connelly sold 200,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.16, for a total transaction of $632,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 793,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,505,880. The trade was a 20.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Christine Zedelmayer sold 86,012 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief operating officer owned 62,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $175,240.80. The trade was a 57.88% 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. Insiders sold a total of 406,392 shares of company stock worth $1,224,898 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 17.84% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equillium

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Equillium by 59.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,313,946 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,879,000 after buying an additional 489,855 shares during the last quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP bought a new position in shares of Equillium in the third quarter worth about $190,000. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equillium in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $7,951,000. Virtu Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Equillium by 133.4% during 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 last quarter. Finally, Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Equillium during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $178,000. 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.