Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) Coverage Initiated at Oppenheimer

Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) in a report issued on Thursday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm set an “outperform” rating and a $7.00 price target on the stock. Oppenheimer’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 224.07% from the company’s previous close.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on EQ. Stifel Nicolaus initiated coverage on Equillium in a research note on Wednesday, February 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $5.00 target price on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised Equillium from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 14th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Equillium in a research note on Tuesday, April 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $10.00 target price on the stock. B. Riley Financial started coverage on Equillium in a research note on Thursday, April 16th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $6.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on Equillium in a research report on Monday, April 13th. They set a “strong-buy” rating and a $6.00 price objective on the stock. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $7.67.

Equillium Price Performance

NASDAQ EQ opened at $2.16 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $136.58 million, a PE ratio of -4.32 and a beta of 1.75. Equillium has a 1 year low of $0.27 and a 1 year high of $2.70. The business’s 50-day moving average is $1.95 and its 200 day moving average is $1.50.

Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) last posted its earnings results 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, equities research analysts anticipate that Equillium will post -0.22 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Christine Zedelmayer sold 185,937 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 191,444 shares in the company, valued at $336,941.44. This trade represents a 49.27% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last three months, insiders have sold 487,468 shares of company stock valued at $990,467. 31.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC bought a new position in shares of Equillium in the 4th quarter worth about $9,057,000. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Equillium by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC now owns 5,608,078 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,693,000 after acquiring an additional 48,090 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Equillium in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $5,018,000. Aberdeen Group plc boosted its position in shares of Equillium by 523.6% in the 4th quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 2,366,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,668,000 after purchasing an additional 1,987,162 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its position in shares of Equillium by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 2,076,250 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,218,000 after purchasing an additional 72,602 shares in the last quarter. 27.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.