Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) Insider Sells $632,000.00 in Stock

Equillium, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQ) insider Stephen Connelly sold 200,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $3.16, for a total value of $632,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 793,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,505,880. The trade was a 20.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Stephen Connelly also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, June 5th, Stephen Connelly sold 30,975 shares of Equillium stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total value of $91,066.50.

Equillium Price Performance

NASDAQ EQ traded down $0.23 on Friday, reaching $2.94. 1,143,124 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 595,254. The stock has a market cap of $185.89 million, a PE ratio of -9.19 and a beta of 1.77. Equillium, Inc. has a 12 month low of $0.27 and a 12 month high of $3.45. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $2.18 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1.70.

Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). As a group, analysts anticipate that Equillium, Inc. will post -0.24 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equillium

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Equillium by 10.8% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,494,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,957,000 after buying an additional 632,359 shares during the period. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC boosted its position 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 in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Equillium during the third quarter valued at approximately $5,018,000. Aberdeen Group plc boosted its position 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. boosted its position in shares of Equillium by 3.6% during the fourth quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,076,250 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,218,000 after purchasing an additional 72,602 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.05% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on EQ shares. B. Riley Financial assumed coverage on Equillium in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $6.00 target price for the company. 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 report on Thursday, May 28th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $12.00 price target on shares of Equillium in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Equillium in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $7.00 target price on shares of Equillium in a report on Thursday, May 28th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $7.57.

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.