Stephen Connelly Sells 200,000 Shares of Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) Stock

Equillium, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQ) insider Stephen Connelly sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.16, for a total transaction of $632,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 793,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,505,880. The trade was a 20.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

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

• On Friday, June 5th, Stephen Connelly sold 30,975 shares of Equillium stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total transaction of $91,066.50.

Equillium Stock Performance

Shares of Equillium stock opened at $2.94 on Friday. Equillium, Inc. has a 52 week low of $0.27 and a 52 week high of $3.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $2.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.90 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.19 and a beta of 1.77.

Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.02). As a group, research analysts forecast that Equillium, Inc. will post -0.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on EQ shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Equillium in a report on Friday, March 27th. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Equillium from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $1.00 to $6.00 in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Equillium in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $10.00 price objective on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered Equillium from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Equillium to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s 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 Trading of Equillium

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP acquired a new position in shares of Equillium during the first quarter worth $31,000. Virtu Financial LLC lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 13,591 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new position in Equillium in the third quarter valued at $35,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new position in Equillium in the third quarter valued at $99,000. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp acquired a new position in Equillium in the first quarter valued at $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.