Insider Selling: Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) Insider Sells $91,066.50 in Stock

Equillium, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQ) insider Stephen Connelly sold 30,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total value of $91,066.50. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 762,025 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,240,353.50. The trade was a 3.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link.

Stephen Connelly also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, June 4th, Stephen Connelly sold 200,000 shares of Equillium stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.16, for a total value of $632,000.00.

Equillium Stock Performance

Shares of EQ stock opened at $2.94 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $2.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1.71. The firm has a market cap of $185.90 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.19 and a beta of 1.77. Equillium, Inc. has a 1 year low of $0.27 and a 1 year high of $3.45.

Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) last issued 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). As a group, research analysts predict that Equillium, Inc. will post -0.24 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

EQ has been the topic of several research reports. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and set a $7.00 price objective on shares of Equillium in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Equillium in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $10.00 target price for the company. B. Riley Financial assumed coverage on shares of Equillium in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $6.00 target price for the company. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Equillium to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $5.00 target price on shares of Equillium in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equillium currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $7.57.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equillium

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQ. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Equillium in the first quarter valued at about $31,000. Virtu Financial LLC lifted its position in Equillium by 133.4% in 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 Equillium in the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in Equillium in the third quarter valued at about $99,000. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp acquired a new stake in Equillium in the first quarter valued at about $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.