Clear Str Upgrades Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) to Strong-Buy

Equillium (NASDAQ:EQ) was upgraded by investment analysts at Clear Str to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Zacks Research lowered Equillium from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Monday, July 13th. Raymond James Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $7.00 price target on shares of Equillium in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $5.00 price objective on Equillium in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Leerink Partners upgraded shares of Equillium from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $1.00 to $6.00 in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Equillium in a research note on Monday, July 13th. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have assigned a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $7.57.

Equillium Price Performance

Equillium stock opened at $2.76 on Tuesday. Equillium has a fifty-two week low of $0.36 and a fifty-two week high of $3.54. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $2.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $2.11. The firm has a market cap of $174.51 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.62 and a beta of 1.77.

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

Insider Activity at Equillium

In related news, insider Penny Tom sold 65,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $2.95, for a total transaction of $191,750.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 65,000 shares in the company, valued at $191,750. The trade was a 50.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Stephen Connelly sold 30,975 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $2.94, for a total value of $91,066.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 762,025 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,240,353.50. This trade represents a 3.91% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 406,392 shares of company stock worth $1,224,898. Company insiders own 17.84% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Equillium

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Equillium by 10.8% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 6,494,571 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,957,000 after purchasing an additional 632,359 shares during the period. Eversept Partners LP bought a new position in Equillium in the first quarter worth $2,998,000. OMERS ADMINISTRATION Corp bought a new position in Equillium in the first quarter worth $100,000. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Equillium during the first quarter worth $2,453,000. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Equillium during the first quarter worth $31,000. 27.05% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.