Equillium, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQ) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Equillium, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQ) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the five research firms that are covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and two have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $6.00.

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Zacks Research raised Equillium to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Stifel Nicolaus assumed coverage on Equillium in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $5.00 price objective on the stock. Roth Mkm initiated coverage on Equillium in a report on Friday, March 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $12.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Equillium in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Equillium from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 14th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equillium news, COO Christine Zedelmayer sold 120,312 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.50, for a total value of $300,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 62,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $156,465. The trade was a 65.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 594,001 shares of company stock valued at $1,148,895. Company insiders own 31.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equillium

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of EQ. Virtu Financial LLC raised its position in 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 purchasing an additional 13,591 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Equillium by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 155,420 shares of the company’s stock valued at $241,000 after buying an additional 17,900 shares during the last quarter. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd boosted its position in Equillium by 35.0% in the 4th quarter. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd now owns 93,123 shares of the company’s stock valued at $144,000 after buying an additional 24,132 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equillium in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Equillium by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 345,310 shares of the company’s stock valued at $535,000 after buying an additional 34,491 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.05% of the company’s stock.

Equillium Trading Up 0.5%

NASDAQ EQ opened at $2.14 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $130.30 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.45 and a beta of 1.81. The company has a 50 day moving average of $1.61 and a 200-day moving average of $1.43. Equillium has a 1-year low of $0.27 and a 1-year high of $2.70.

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.