Equillium, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQ) Given Consensus Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" by Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts broadly favor Equillium: Eleven firms give the stock a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating, with seven buys and two strong buys versus two sells. The average 12-month price target is $7.57.
• Insiders have recently reduced their holdings: Executives sold 406,392 shares worth approximately $1.22 million over the past three months, while insiders retain 17.84% of the company.
• Equillium remains a speculative, loss-making biotech: Shares opened at $2.11, and the company’s latest quarterly loss of $0.06 per share missed estimates of $0.04. Its lead drug candidate, EQ001, is being developed for autoimmune diseases and transplant-related conditions.

Shares of Equillium, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQ - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the eleven research firms that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, seven have assigned a buy recommendation and two have assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $7.5714.

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Equillium in a research note on Monday, July 13th. They set an "overweight" rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Equillium in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. Raymond James Financial restated a "strong-buy" rating and set a $7.00 price target on shares of Equillium in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Leerink Partners raised Equillium from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and raised their price objective for the company from $1.00 to $6.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Equillium in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. They set an "outperform" rating and a $7.00 price objective for the company.

Insider Transactions at Equillium

In other Equillium news, insider Penny Tom sold 65,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.95, for a total value of $191,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 65,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $191,750. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Stephen Connelly sold 200,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.16, for a total transaction of $632,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 793,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,505,880. This represents a 20.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 406,392 shares of company stock worth $1,224,898 over the last three months. 17.84% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equillium

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP bought a new stake in shares of Equillium in the 1st quarter worth approximately $31,000. Virtu Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 13,591 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC bought a new position in Equillium in the third quarter worth $35,000. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp bought a new position in Equillium in the first quarter worth $100,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada acquired a new stake in Equillium during the fourth quarter worth $124,000. 27.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Equillium Stock Performance

Equillium stock opened at $2.11 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $2.20. The firm has a market capitalization of $133.42 million, a P/E ratio of -6.59 and a beta of 1.83. Equillium has a one year low of $0.46 and a one year high of $3.54.

Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.04) by ($0.02). As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Equillium will post -0.24 earnings per share for the current year.

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.

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