Pliant Therapeutics’ (PLRX) Neutral Rating Reaffirmed at HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright restated their neutral rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) in a research note published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $1.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Pliant Therapeutics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Leerink Partners lowered shares of Pliant Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $2.00 in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.31.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PLRX opened at $1.58 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 10.26 and a current ratio of 10.26. The company has a fifty day moving average of $6.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.75 million, a PE ratio of -0.47 and a beta of 1.18. Pliant Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $1.26 and a fifty-two week high of $16.52.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 3rd. The company reported ($0.82) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.99) by $0.17. As a group, research analysts forecast that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pliant Therapeutics news, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 52,419 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total transaction of $587,092.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 430,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,821,790.40. This trade represents a 10.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 10,230 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.99, for a total transaction of $112,427.70. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 70,544 shares in the company, valued at $775,278.56. This represents a 12.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 91,855 shares of company stock valued at $1,026,628 over the last 90 days. 6.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pliant Therapeutics

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

Pliant Therapeutics Company Profile

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.