Roth Mkm Initiates Coverage on Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ)

Research analysts at Roth Mkm initiated coverage on shares of Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) in a note issued to investors on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage set a “buy” rating and a $12.00 price target on the stock. Roth Mkm’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 384.46% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on EQ. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Equillium in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Equillium in a report on Wednesday, February 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $5.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research raised shares of Equillium to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Equillium from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $6.00.

Equillium Price Performance

Equillium stock traded up $0.41 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $2.48. The stock had a trading volume of 1,111,771 shares, compared to its average volume of 479,772. Equillium has a 1-year low of $0.27 and a 1-year high of $2.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $150.82 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.01 and a beta of 1.81. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $1.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1.42.

Insider Activity at Equillium

In related news, COO Christine Zedelmayer sold 181,219 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.00, for a total transaction of $362,438.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 62,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $125,172. This trade represents a 74.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 485,589 shares of company stock worth $863,704 over the last quarter. 31.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Virtu Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Equillium by 133.4% in 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. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equillium during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Equillium during the 3rd quarter worth $99,000. Royal Bank of Canada purchased a new position in shares of Equillium in the 4th quarter worth $124,000. Finally, Boothbay Fund Management LLC acquired a new position in Equillium in the third quarter valued at $174,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.