Citigroup Cuts Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) Price Target to $1.50

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) had its price target reduced by Citigroup from $4.00 to $1.50 in a research report report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the stock.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday. Leerink Partners downgraded Pliant Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $2.00 in a report on Monday. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Pliant Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.31.

Pliant Therapeutics Trading Up 3.9 %

NASDAQ PLRX opened at $1.58 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $96.15 million, a P/E ratio of -0.47 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 10.26, a quick ratio of 10.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.59. Pliant Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $1.26 and a 12-month high of $16.52.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The company reported ($0.82) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.99) by $0.17. On average, analysts forecast that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pliant Therapeutics

In other news, insider Hans Hull sold 15,936 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total transaction of $178,483.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 211,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,369,449.60. This represents a 7.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 10,230 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.99, for a total value of $112,427.70. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 70,544 shares in the company, valued at $775,278.56. The trade was a 12.66 % 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 90 days. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PLRX. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 1,299.0% in the fourth quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 5,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 5,196 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $99,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $108,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc acquired a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics in the third quarter worth $112,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.30% of the company’s stock.

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.