Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) Stock Rating Lowered by Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have $4.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $41.00.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Pliant Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $45.00 to $4.00 in a report on Monday. HC Wainwright lowered shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pliant Therapeutics has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.75.

Pliant Therapeutics Price Performance

PLRX stock opened at $2.72 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $12.18 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 10.26 and a quick ratio of 10.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $165.52 million, a P/E ratio of -0.81 and a beta of 1.03. Pliant Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $2.43 and a 1 year high of $18.00.

Insider Activity at Pliant Therapeutics

In other Pliant Therapeutics news, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 10,230 shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.99, for a total transaction of $112,427.70. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 70,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $775,278.56. The trade was a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Hans Hull sold 15,936 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total value of $178,483.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 211,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,369,449.60. This represents a 7.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 91,855 shares of company stock valued at $1,026,628 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 300.8% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 197,251 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,598,000 after purchasing an additional 148,039 shares during the period. Checkpoint Capital L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 63.7% in the third quarter. Checkpoint Capital L.P. now owns 380,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,260,000 after buying an additional 147,800 shares during the last quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 265.2% during the third quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 170,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,908,000 after buying an additional 123,600 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. grew its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 8.0% during the fourth quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 900,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,854,000 after buying an additional 66,888 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 233.8% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 91,979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,031,000 after acquiring an additional 64,422 shares during the period. 97.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Pliant Therapeutics

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and commercializes novel therapies for the treatment of fibrosis and related diseases in the United States. The company's lead candidate is bexotegrast, an oral, small-molecule, dual selective inhibitor of avß6 and avß1 integrins, which is in phase 2b trials for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and in phase 2a trial for primary sclerosing cholangitis.