Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) Lowered to “Strong Sell” Rating by Zacks Research

Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) was downgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report released on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on EQ. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Equillium in a research note on Monday. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Equillium in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $7.00 target price for the company. B. Riley Financial initiated coverage on Equillium in a report on Thursday, April 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $6.00 target price on the stock. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating and issued a $12.00 price target on shares of Equillium in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Equillium from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, June 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Equillium currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $7.57.

Equillium Price Performance

Equillium stock opened at $2.76 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $174.51 million, a PE ratio of -8.62 and a beta of 1.77. The company’s 50-day moving average is $2.69 and its 200-day moving average is $2.06. Equillium has a fifty-two week low of $0.34 and a fifty-two week high of $3.54.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Penny Tom sold 65,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.95, for a total value of $191,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 65,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $191,750. This represents a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Christine Zedelmayer sold 14,584 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.93, for a total transaction of $42,731.12. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 62,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $183,376.98. This represents a 18.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 406,392 shares of company stock valued at $1,224,898. 17.84% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in EQ. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Equillium in the first quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Virtu Financial LLC grew its position in Equillium by 133.4% during the third quarter. Virtu Financial LLC now owns 23,779 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 13,591 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC acquired a new stake in Equillium during the third quarter worth approximately $35,000. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp acquired a new stake in Equillium during the first quarter worth approximately $100,000. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada bought a new position in Equillium during the 4th quarter worth $124,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.