Equillium, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQ) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Brokerages

Shares of Equillium, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQ) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and two have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $6.00.

EQ has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Equillium from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 28th. Roth Mkm started coverage on Equillium in a report on Friday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $12.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Equillium in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on Equillium in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $5.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research raised Equillium to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th.

Equillium Stock Up 18.4%

Shares of Equillium stock traded up $0.38 during trading on Friday, reaching $2.45. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 962,816 shares, compared to its average volume of 478,003. Equillium has a 52-week low of $0.27 and a 52-week high of $2.49. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $1.52 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1.42. The company has a market cap of $149.18 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.97 and a beta of 1.81.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Christine Zedelmayer sold 185,937 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.76, for a total value of $327,249.12. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 191,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $336,941.44. This trade represents a 49.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold a total of 485,589 shares of company stock valued at $863,704 in the last quarter. 31.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equillium

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQ. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Equillium by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC now owns 5,608,078 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,693,000 after acquiring an additional 48,090 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC purchased a new position in shares of Equillium in the fourth quarter valued at about $9,057,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Equillium by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,076,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,218,000 after acquiring an additional 72,602 shares during the last quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. boosted its holdings in shares of Equillium by 32.4% during the fourth quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. now owns 562,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $872,000 after purchasing an additional 137,643 shares during the period. Finally, Diadema Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Equillium by 15.8% in the fourth quarter. Diadema Partners LP now owns 347,393 shares of the company’s stock worth $538,000 after purchasing an additional 47,393 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.