Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) Upgraded to Strong-Buy at Clear Str

Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) was upgraded by equities research analysts at Clear Str to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms also recently weighed in on EQ. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating and set a $12.00 price target on shares of Equillium in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Zacks Research cut Equillium from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Oppenheimer began coverage on Equillium in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $7.00 price objective on the stock. B. Riley Financial started coverage on Equillium in a research report on Thursday, April 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $6.00 target price for the company. Finally, Piper Sandler started coverage on Equillium in a research note on Monday, July 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $7.57.

Equillium Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EQ opened at $2.76 on Tuesday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $2.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $2.11. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.62 and a beta of 1.77. Equillium has a one year low of $0.36 and a one year high of $3.54.

Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). As a group, equities research analysts expect that Equillium will post -0.24 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Penny Tom sold 65,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.95, for a total transaction of $191,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 65,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $191,750. This trade represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Stephen Connelly sold 30,975 shares of Equillium stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total value of $91,066.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 762,025 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,240,353.50. This represents a 3.91% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 406,392 shares of company stock valued at $1,224,898 over the last three months. Insiders own 17.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equillium

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Equillium by 10.8% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,494,571 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,957,000 after acquiring an additional 632,359 shares during the last quarter. Eversept Partners LP bought a new stake in Equillium in the first quarter valued at approximately $2,998,000. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Equillium during the first quarter valued at approximately $100,000. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Equillium during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,453,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of Equillium in the first quarter worth approximately $31,000. 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.