Equillium, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQ) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Brokerages

Key Points

• Analyst sentiment is moderately bullish: Eleven brokerages rate Equillium a consensus “Moderate Buy,” including seven buys and two strong buys. The average 12-month price target is $7.57, well above the stock’s recent opening price of $2.22.
• Recent ratings have improved: Leerink Partners upgraded Equillium to “outperform” with a $6 target, while Roth Capital maintained a “buy” rating and a $12 target. Other firms also raised their ratings from sell or hold classifications.
• Equillium remains a speculative clinical-stage biotech: The company reported quarterly EPS of negative $0.04, slightly beating expectations, and analysts anticipate a full-year loss of $0.21 per share. Its lead candidate, EQ001, is being developed for severe autoimmune diseases and transplant-related conditions.

Equillium, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQ - Get Free Report) has been given an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by the eleven ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $7.5714.

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Clear Str upgraded shares of Equillium to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Equillium from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $1.00 to $6.00 in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Zacks Research raised shares of Equillium from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Equillium from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Finally, Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $12.00 price objective on shares of Equillium in a research report on Thursday, May 28th.

Equillium Price Performance

NASDAQ:EQ opened at $2.22 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $140.77 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -11.10 and a beta of 1.81. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $2.50 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2.32. Equillium has a 1 year low of $0.76 and a 1 year high of $3.54.

Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by $0.01. As a group, analysts expect that Equillium will post -0.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equillium

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Two Sigma Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equillium during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC bought a new position in Equillium in the 2nd quarter valued at $48,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP purchased a new stake in Equillium in the first quarter worth $31,000. Virtu Financial LLC increased its stake in Equillium by 133.4% in the third 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. Finally, Millennium Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equillium during the third quarter worth $35,000. 27.05% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.

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