Insider Selling: Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) COO Sells 14,584 Shares of Stock

Equillium, Inc. (NASDAQ:EQ) COO Christine Zedelmayer sold 14,584 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.93, for a total transaction of $42,731.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 62,586 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $183,376.98. This trade represents a 18.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.

Christine Zedelmayer also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Thursday, May 28th, Christine Zedelmayer sold 86,012 shares of Equillium stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.80, for a total transaction of $240,833.60.
• On Wednesday, May 27th, Christine Zedelmayer sold 9,821 shares of Equillium stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.70, for a total transaction of $26,516.70.
• On Friday, March 13th, Christine Zedelmayer sold 120,312 shares of Equillium stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.50, for a total transaction of $300,780.00.
• On Monday, March 9th, Christine Zedelmayer sold 181,219 shares of Equillium stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.00, for a total transaction of $362,438.00.

Equillium Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:EQ traded down $0.23 on Friday, reaching $2.94. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,143,183 shares, compared to its average volume of 595,254. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $2.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1.70. Equillium, Inc. has a 52-week low of $0.27 and a 52-week high of $3.45. The stock has a market capitalization of $185.89 million, a P/E ratio of -9.19 and a beta of 1.77.

Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, May 13th. The company reported ($0.06) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.04) by ($0.02). Equities analysts forecast that Equillium, Inc. will post -0.24 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in EQ. Janus Henderson Group PLC acquired a new position in Equillium during the fourth quarter worth about $9,057,000. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Equillium during the third quarter worth about $7,951,000. Woodline Partners LP acquired a new position in Equillium during the third quarter worth about $5,018,000. Aberdeen Group plc grew its position in Equillium by 523.6% during the fourth quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 2,366,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,668,000 after buying an additional 1,987,162 shares during the period. Finally, Eversept Partners LP acquired a new position in Equillium during the first quarter worth about $2,998,000. 27.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently commented on EQ. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $7.00 target price on shares of Equillium in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Equillium from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Equillium in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $7.00 price target for the company. Stifel Nicolaus set a $5.00 price target on shares of Equillium in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Equillium to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, February 26th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.