1,498,993 Shares in Equillium, Inc. $EQ Acquired by Eversept Partners LP

Eversept Partners LP bought a new stake in Equillium, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQ) during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 1,498,993 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,998,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC bought a new position in shares of Equillium in the fourth quarter worth $9,057,000. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Equillium by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC now owns 5,608,078 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,693,000 after purchasing an additional 48,090 shares during the period. Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Equillium during the third quarter valued at about $5,018,000. Aberdeen Group plc raised its stake in shares of Equillium by 523.6% during the fourth quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 2,366,688 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,668,000 after purchasing an additional 1,987,162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. lifted its holdings 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 worth $3,218,000 after purchasing an additional 72,602 shares during the period. 27.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

EQ has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Equillium in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Equillium from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, June 27th. Clear Str raised shares of Equillium to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $7.00 price target on shares of Equillium in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Equillium from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $1.00 to $6.00 in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $7.57.

Insider Buying and Selling at Equillium

In other news, COO Christine Zedelmayer sold 14,584 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.93, for a total transaction of $42,731.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 62,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $183,376.98. This trade represents a 18.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Stephen Connelly sold 30,975 shares of Equillium stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total transaction of $91,066.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 762,025 shares in the company, valued at $2,240,353.50. This represents a 3.91% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 406,392 shares of company stock valued at $1,224,898. 17.84% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Equillium Stock Performance

EQ opened at $2.46 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $155.54 million, a PE ratio of -7.69 and a beta of 1.77. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $2.76 and its 200-day moving average is $2.13. Equillium, Inc. has a one year low of $0.37 and a one year high of $3.54.

Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported ($0.06) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.02). On average, equities research analysts forecast that Equillium, Inc. will post -0.24 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.