Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) Stock Rating Upgraded by Wall Street Zen

Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report released on Saturday.

EQ has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Leerink Partners raised Equillium from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $1.00 to $6.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Equillium in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $12.00 target price on shares of Equillium in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Equillium in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $10.00 price target for the company. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $7.00 price target on shares of Equillium in a report on Thursday, May 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $7.57.

Equillium Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EQ opened at $2.81 on Friday. Equillium has a one year low of $0.27 and a one year high of $3.45. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $2.28 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1.77. The company has a market capitalization of $177.68 million, a P/E ratio of -8.78 and a beta of 1.77.

Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) last announced 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). On average, equities analysts anticipate that Equillium will post -0.24 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Equillium

In related news, insider Penny Tom sold 65,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.95, for a total value of $191,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 65,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $191,750. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Christine Zedelmayer sold 86,012 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.80, for a total transaction of $240,833.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 62,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $175,240.80. This trade represents a 57.88% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over 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 Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQ. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP acquired a new position in Equillium in the first quarter worth about $31,000. Virtu Financial LLC raised its stake in Equillium by 133.4% during the third quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 23,779 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 13,591 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new position in Equillium during the third quarter worth $35,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new position in Equillium during the third quarter worth $99,000. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp acquired a new position in Equillium during the first quarter worth $100,000. 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.