Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) Announces Earnings Results, Beats Expectations By $0.10 EPS

Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) announced its earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported ($0.04) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.14) by $0.10, FiscalAI reports.

Equillium Trading Up 5.6%

Shares of NASDAQ EQ traded up $0.11 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $2.06. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 174,699 shares, compared to its average volume of 548,594. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.66 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $125.43 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.32 and a beta of 1.81. Equillium has a fifty-two week low of $0.27 and a fifty-two week high of $2.70.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Equillium in a research report on Wednesday, February 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $5.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Equillium from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 14th. Zacks Research raised shares of Equillium to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 26th. Roth Mkm began coverage on Equillium in a report on Friday, March 13th. They set a “buy” rating and a $12.00 target price for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Equillium in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $6.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equillium news, COO Christine Zedelmayer sold 185,937 shares of Equillium stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.76, for a total value of $327,249.12. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 191,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $336,941.44. The trade was a 49.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 494,001 shares of company stock valued at $998,895 over the last ninety days. 30.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Equillium

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Virtu Financial LLC boosted its position in Equillium by 133.4% during 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 during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Equillium during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Royal Bank of Canada acquired a new position in shares of Equillium during the 4th quarter worth approximately $124,000. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd raised its stake in shares of Equillium by 35.0% during the 4th quarter. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd now owns 93,123 shares of the company’s stock worth $144,000 after purchasing an additional 24,132 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Boothbay Fund Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Equillium in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $174,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 27.05% of the company’s stock.

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.