Hans Hull Sells 15,936 Shares of Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) Stock

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) insider Hans Hull sold 15,936 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 211,558 shares in the company, valued at $2,369,449.60. This represents a 7.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Pliant Therapeutics Trading Down 1.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ PLRX opened at $10.92 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 10.26 and a current ratio of 10.26. Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $10.22 and a 52 week high of $18.92. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $13.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $13.08.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.95) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.99) by $0.04. On average, equities analysts predict that Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.65 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PLRX. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 18.1% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 74,113 shares of the company’s stock valued at $797,000 after buying an additional 11,351 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 305,322 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,282,000 after acquiring an additional 5,152 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 233.8% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 253,369 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,724,000 after acquiring an additional 177,469 shares during the last quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc grew its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 39.1% during the second quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 35,368 shares of the company’s stock worth $380,000 after purchasing an additional 9,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Great Point Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 42.4% in the second quarter. Great Point Partners LLC now owns 2,636,864 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,346,000 after purchasing an additional 785,000 shares during the last quarter. 97.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Friday, November 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.50.

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.