Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) Coverage Initiated at Oppenheimer

Investment analysts at Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) in a research note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm set an “outperform” rating and a $7.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer’s target price indicates a potential upside of 200.43% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on the company. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $12.00 price objective on shares of Equillium in a report on Friday, April 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Equillium in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $10.00 price target on the stock. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Equillium in a report on Monday, April 13th. They set a “strong-buy” rating and a $6.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Equillium in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Equillium to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $7.67.

Equillium Stock Performance

Shares of EQ stock opened at $2.33 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $1.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1.49. The firm has a market cap of $147.33 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.66 and a beta of 1.75. Equillium has a 1 year low of $0.27 and a 1 year high of $2.70.

Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 25th. The company reported ($0.04) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.07) by $0.03. As a group, research analysts predict that Equillium will post -0.22 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Equillium news, COO Christine Zedelmayer sold 120,312 shares of Equillium stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.50, for a total value of $300,780.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 62,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $156,465. The trade was a 65.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 487,468 shares of company stock valued at $990,467. 31.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Equillium

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Equillium by 0.9% in the 4th 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. Janus Henderson Group PLC purchased a new stake in Equillium in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $9,057,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Equillium by 3.6% in the 4th 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. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. boosted its holdings in Equillium by 32.4% in the 4th quarter. Cantor Fitzgerald L. P. now owns 562,643 shares of the company’s stock valued at $872,000 after purchasing an additional 137,643 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Diadema Partners LP boosted its holdings in Equillium by 15.8% in the 4th quarter. Diadema Partners LP now owns 347,393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $538,000 after purchasing an additional 47,393 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 27.05% of the company’s stock.

Equillium Company Profile

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.