Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) Coverage Initiated at Stifel Nicolaus

Equities researchers at Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $5.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus’ target price would indicate a potential upside of 160.42% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Equillium from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Equillium in a report on Monday, December 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $3.00.

Equillium Trading Up 3.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:EQ opened at $1.92 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $1.41 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1.36. The firm has a market cap of $116.91 million, a PE ratio of -3.10 and a beta of 1.87. Equillium has a 12-month low of $0.27 and a 12-month high of $2.35.

Insider Transactions at Equillium

In other Equillium news, COO Christine Zedelmayer sold 185,937 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.76, for a total value of $327,249.12. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 191,444 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $336,941.44. This trade represents a 49.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 328,174 shares of company stock valued at $533,163 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 30.30% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQ. Aberdeen Group plc acquired a new position in shares of Equillium during the third quarter valued at $543,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Equillium by 59.4% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,313,946 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,879,000 after purchasing an additional 489,855 shares during the period. Persistent Asset Partners Ltd bought a new position in Equillium in the 3rd quarter worth about $99,000. Two Sigma Investments LP acquired a new stake in shares of Equillium in the third quarter valued at approximately $190,000. Finally, ADAR1 Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Equillium during the third quarter valued at approximately $7,951,000. 27.05% of the stock is currently owned by 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.