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

Key Points

• Equillium has an average broker rating of “Moderate Buy” from 10 analysts, with a consensus 1-year price target of about $7.57.
• Recent analyst actions were mixed: Roth Capital and B. Riley reiterated or initiated buy ratings, while Leerink upgraded the stock to outperform; however, Weiss and Zacks maintained or moved to sell ratings.
• Insiders have been selling shares recently, including notable sales by Penny Tom and Stephen Connelly, while institutional ownership stands at 27.05% of the stock.

Equillium, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQ - Get Free Report) has earned an average recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the ten brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $7.5714.

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Roth Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $12.00 price target on shares of Equillium in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Leerink Partners raised shares of Equillium from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and upped their price target for the company from $1.00 to $6.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Equillium in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. B. Riley Financial initiated coverage on shares of Equillium in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. They set a "buy" rating and a $6.00 price target for the company. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Equillium from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equillium news, insider Penny Tom sold 65,000 shares of Equillium stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.95, for a total transaction 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. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $3.16, for a total value of $632,000.00. Following 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 disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 406,392 shares of company stock worth $1,224,898 in the last ninety days. 17.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of EQ. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in Equillium by 10.8% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,494,571 shares of the company's stock worth $12,957,000 after purchasing an additional 632,359 shares during the last quarter. Eversept Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Equillium in the first quarter worth about $2,998,000. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp acquired a new stake in Equillium during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $100,000. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Equillium during the first quarter worth $2,453,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP acquired a new position in Equillium in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.05% of the company's stock.

Equillium Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EQ opened at $2.62 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $165.65 million, a PE ratio of -8.19 and a beta of 1.77. Equillium has a 52-week low of $0.36 and a 52-week high of $3.54. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $2.70 and its 200-day moving average price is $2.07.

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