Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) Upgraded by Zacks Research to “Hold” Rating

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) to a hold rating in a report released on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Equillium in a report on Wednesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $5.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Equillium in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Equillium from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Equillium currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $3.00.

Equillium Stock Up 4.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:EQ traded up $0.09 during trading on Thursday, hitting $1.82. 273,285 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 466,217. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $1.45 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1.37. The company has a market cap of $110.82 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.94 and a beta of 1.87. Equillium has a 52-week low of $0.27 and a 52-week high of $2.35.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equillium news, COO Christine Zedelmayer sold 185,937 shares of Equillium stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.76, for a total transaction of $327,249.12. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 191,444 shares in the company, valued at $336,941.44. The trade was a 49.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 328,174 shares of company stock worth $533,163. 31.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EQ. Virtu Financial LLC grew its position in shares of Equillium by 133.4% in the 3rd 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 in the third quarter worth $35,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new position in Equillium in the third quarter worth $99,000. Royal Bank of Canada bought a new stake in Equillium during the fourth quarter valued at $124,000. Finally, Boothbay Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equillium during the third quarter worth $174,000. Institutional investors 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.