Brokerages Set Equillium, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQ) PT at $7.57

Equillium, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQ) has been given an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the nine ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation, six have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $7.5714.

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on EQ. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Equillium in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $10.00 target price for the company. Raymond James Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $7.00 target price on shares of Equillium in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Equillium in a report on Friday, March 27th. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Equillium in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $7.00 target price for the company. Finally, Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Equillium from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their target price for the company from $1.00 to $6.00 in a report on Thursday, May 28th.

Equillium Trading Up 3.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:EQ opened at $2.95 on Friday. Equillium has a 52 week low of $0.29 and a 52 week high of $3.45. The company’s 50 day moving average is $2.47 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1.90. The company has a market cap of $186.53 million, a PE ratio of -9.22 and a beta of 1.77.

Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) last announced 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, equities research analysts expect that Equillium will post -0.24 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 value of $632,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 793,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,505,880. This represents a 20.14% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Penny Tom sold 65,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.95, for a total transaction of $191,750.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 65,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $191,750. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 406,392 shares of company stock worth $1,224,898. Corporate insiders own 17.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equillium

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of EQ. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Equillium during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. Virtu Financial LLC boosted its stake in Equillium by 133.4% during 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 period. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new stake in Equillium during the 3rd quarter worth $35,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd acquired a new stake in Equillium during the 3rd quarter worth $99,000. Finally, OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp acquired a new stake in Equillium during the 1st quarter worth $100,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.