Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.10 EPS

Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by $0.10, FiscalAI reports.

Equillium Stock Up 5.6%

NASDAQ EQ traded up $0.11 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $2.06. 174,699 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 548,594. Equillium has a fifty-two week low of $0.27 and a fifty-two week high of $2.70. The firm has a market cap of $125.43 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.32 and a beta of 1.81. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $1.66 and its 200 day moving average price is $1.43.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Christine Zedelmayer sold 120,312 shares of Equillium stock in a transaction on Friday, March 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.50, for a total transaction of $300,780.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 62,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $156,465. This trade represents a 65.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 494,001 shares of company stock valued at $998,895 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 30.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equillium

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Equillium by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC now owns 5,608,078 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,693,000 after buying an additional 48,090 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC acquired a new position in Equillium in the fourth quarter valued at about $9,057,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. grew its stake in Equillium by 3.6% in 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 period. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. increased its holdings in shares of Equillium by 32.4% in the fourth quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. now owns 562,643 shares of the company’s stock worth $872,000 after acquiring an additional 137,643 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diadema Partners LP raised its position in shares of Equillium by 15.8% during 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 period. Institutional investors own 27.05% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on EQ shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Equillium in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Zacks Research raised shares of Equillium to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. Roth Mkm started coverage on shares of Equillium in a research report on Friday, March 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $12.00 target price for the company. Wall Street Zen raised Equillium from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on Equillium in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $5.00 price objective for the company. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $6.00.

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.