Pliant Therapeutics’ (PLRX) Hold Rating Reiterated at Canaccord Genuity Group

Canaccord Genuity Group restated their hold rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $4.00 target price on the stock, down from their previous target price of $43.00.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Pliant Therapeutics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $41.00 to $4.00 in a research report on Monday. Needham & Company LLC lowered their price target on Pliant Therapeutics from $38.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded Pliant Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $4.00 in a research note on Monday. HC Wainwright downgraded Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Citigroup lowered Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $40.00 to $4.00 in a report on Monday. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.75.

Pliant Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PLRX opened at $2.72 on Monday. The company’s fifty 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 quick ratio of 10.26 and a current 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 one year low of $2.43 and a one year high of $18.00.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 52,419 shares of Pliant Therapeutics 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 430,517 shares in the company, valued at $4,821,790.40. The trade was 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 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 transaction of $112,427.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 70,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $775,278.56. This represents 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 worth $1,026,628 over the last three months. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pliant Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of PLRX. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Pliant Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $108,000. Atria Investments Inc purchased a new position in Pliant Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $112,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 65.0% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 11,694 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,000 after buying an additional 4,607 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $145,000. 97.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.