1,226,310 Shares in Equillium, Inc. $EQ Purchased by Affinity Asset Advisors LLC

Affinity Asset Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Equillium, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQ) in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 1,226,310 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,453,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of EQ. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP bought a new stake in Equillium during the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Virtu Financial LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 period. Millennium Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equillium in the third quarter worth $35,000. Royal Bank of Canada purchased a new stake in shares of Equillium in the fourth quarter worth $124,000. Finally, Persistent Asset Partners Ltd boosted its stake in Equillium by 35.0% during the fourth quarter. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd now owns 93,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,000 after buying an additional 24,132 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.05% of the company’s stock.

Equillium Stock Down 7.4%

Shares of EQ stock opened at $2.49 on Friday. Equillium, Inc. has a twelve month low of $0.37 and a twelve month high of $3.54. The stock has a market cap of $157.44 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -7.78 and a beta of 1.77. The business’s fifty day moving average is $2.75 and its 200 day moving average is $2.12.

Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) last released its 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). Equities research analysts expect that Equillium, Inc. will post -0.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $5.00 target price on Equillium in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $7.00 price objective on shares of Equillium in a report on Thursday, May 28th. B. Riley Financial started coverage on shares of Equillium in a report on Thursday, April 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $6.00 price target on the stock. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Equillium in a research report on Monday, July 13th. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Equillium from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $7.57.

Insider Activity at Equillium

In related news, insider Stephen Connelly sold 30,975 shares of Equillium stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total value of $91,066.50. Following the completion of the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Christine Zedelmayer sold 14,584 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.93, for a total value of $42,731.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 62,586 shares in the company, valued at $183,376.98. The trade was 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. Insiders have sold 406,392 shares of company stock valued at $1,224,898 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 17.84% 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.