Equillium, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQ) Receives Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Equillium, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQ) have received a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the nine research firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has assigned a hold recommendation, six have assigned a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $7.5714.

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Equillium from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Equillium in a research note on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $7.00 price objective on shares of Equillium in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Equillium in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $7.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, B. Riley Financial started coverage on Equillium in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $6.00 price objective on the stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equillium news, COO Christine Zedelmayer sold 14,584 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.93, for a total transaction of $42,731.12. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 62,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $183,376.98. This represents a 18.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Stephen Connelly sold 30,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total transaction of $91,066.50. Following the transaction, the insider owned 762,025 shares in the company, valued at $2,240,353.50. The trade was a 3.91% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 406,392 shares of company stock valued at $1,224,898. 17.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equillium

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. acquired a new position in shares of Equillium during the third quarter worth approximately $608,000. Aberdeen Group plc lifted its holdings in Equillium by 523.6% in the fourth quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 2,366,688 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,668,000 after buying an additional 1,987,162 shares during the period. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Equillium in the third quarter valued at approximately $398,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new position in Equillium in the third quarter valued at approximately $99,000. Finally, Diadema Partners LP lifted its holdings in Equillium by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Diadema Partners LP now owns 347,393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $538,000 after buying an additional 47,393 shares during the period. 27.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equillium Stock Performance

NASDAQ:EQ opened at $3.02 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $2.49 and its 200-day moving average is $1.91. Equillium has a 52-week low of $0.29 and a 52-week high of $3.45. The company has a market cap of $191.02 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.44 and a beta of 1.77.

Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts predict that Equillium will post -0.24 EPS for the current year.

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.