Wall Street Zen Downgrades Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) to Sell

Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) was downgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Saturday.

EQ has been the subject of several other research reports. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on Equillium in a research note on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $5.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Equillium in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $3.00.

Equillium Stock Up 4.9%

NASDAQ EQ opened at $1.82 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $110.82 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.94 and a beta of 1.87. Equillium has a twelve month low of $0.27 and a twelve month high of $2.35. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $1.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1.37.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Christine Zedelmayer sold 185,937 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.76, for a total transaction of $327,249.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 191,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $336,941.44. This trade represents a 49.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In the last quarter, insiders sold 328,174 shares of company stock worth $533,163. 31.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equillium

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Virtu Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Equillium by 133.4% during the third 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 acquired a new stake in shares of Equillium in the 3rd quarter valued at about $35,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd bought a new stake in Equillium in the 3rd quarter valued at about $99,000. Royal Bank of Canada acquired a new position in Equillium during the 4th quarter worth approximately $124,000. Finally, Boothbay Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in Equillium during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $174,000. 27.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.