Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) Coverage Initiated by Analysts at Stifel Nicolaus

Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm issued a buy rating and a $5.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on EQ. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Equillium in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Equillium from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 15th. 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 stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $3.00.

Equillium Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ EQ opened at $1.83 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $111.43 million, a PE ratio of -2.95 and a beta of 1.87. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $1.43 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $1.37. Equillium has a fifty-two week low of $0.27 and a fifty-two week high of $2.35.

Insider Transactions at Equillium

In other Equillium news, COO Christine Zedelmayer sold 185,937 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 19th. The stock was 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 approximately $336,941.44. This trade represents a 49.27% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 328,174 shares of company stock valued at $533,163. 31.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Equillium

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Janus Henderson Group PLC bought a new stake in shares of Equillium in the fourth quarter worth $9,057,000. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Equillium during the 3rd quarter worth about $7,951,000. Woodline Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Equillium in the 3rd quarter valued at about $5,018,000. Aberdeen Group plc increased its stake in shares of Equillium by 523.6% in the fourth quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 2,366,688 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,668,000 after buying an additional 1,987,162 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Equillium by 59.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,313,946 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,879,000 after acquiring an additional 489,855 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 27.05% of the company’s stock.

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.