Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) Receives Neutral Rating from HC Wainwright

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at HC Wainwright in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports.

PLRX has been the topic of several other reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup dropped their price target on Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $1.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.31.

Pliant Therapeutics Trading Down 6.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ PLRX traded down $0.10 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $1.60. 468,652 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 881,690. Pliant Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $1.26 and a 1 year high of $16.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $97.73 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.48 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 10.26, a current ratio of 10.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The business has a 50 day moving average of $6.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $10.98.

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

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Trading of Pliant Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,903 shares of the company’s stock valued at $170,000 after purchasing an additional 1,209 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 95,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,260,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc boosted its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 11,821 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,000 after purchasing an additional 1,812 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 459,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,050,000 after purchasing an additional 2,721 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.