1,226,310 Shares in Equillium, Inc. $EQ Acquired by Affinity Asset Advisors LLC

Affinity Asset Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Equillium, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQ - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,226,310 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,453,000. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC owned 1.94% of Equillium at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQ. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP acquired a new position in Equillium in the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Virtu Financial LLC grew its holdings in Equillium by 133.4% in the 3rd quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 23,779 shares of the company's stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 13,591 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new position in Equillium in the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Royal Bank of Canada bought a new position in Equillium during the 4th quarter worth $124,000. Finally, Persistent Asset Partners Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Equillium by 35.0% during the fourth quarter. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd now owns 93,123 shares of the company's stock worth $144,000 after buying an additional 24,132 shares in the last quarter. 27.05% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

EQ has been the topic of several research reports. Leerink Partners upgraded 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. Clear Str upgraded shares of Equillium to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Equillium in a 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. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Equillium in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $10.00 price target for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $7.57.

Insider Activity at Equillium

In related news, COO Christine Zedelmayer sold 86,012 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.80, for a total transaction of $240,833.60. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 62,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $175,240.80. The trade was a 57.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Penny Tom sold 65,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 65,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $191,750. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 406,392 shares of company stock valued at $1,224,898 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 17.84% of the company's stock.

Equillium Trading Down 7.4%

Shares of EQ stock opened at $2.49 on Friday. Equillium, Inc. has a 12 month low of $0.37 and a 12 month high of $3.54. The firm has a market capitalization of $157.44 million, a PE ratio of -7.78 and a beta of 1.77. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $2.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $2.12.

Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 analysts predict that Equillium, Inc. will post -0.24 earnings per share 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding EQ? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Equillium, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQ - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.