Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) Short Interest Update

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,980,000 shares, a growth of 21.0% from the February 28th total of 3,290,000 shares. Approximately 7.0% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 2,470,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.6 days.

Pliant Therapeutics Trading Down 5.0 %

Shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock opened at $1.34 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $4.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.05. The stock has a market cap of $82.06 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.40 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. Pliant Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $1.24 and a 12-month high of $16.52.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $10.00 price objective on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $1.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Leerink Partners downgraded Pliant Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $2.00 in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Pliant Therapeutics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Pliant Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pliant Therapeutics news, 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 value of $112,427.70. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 70,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,278.56. This trade represents a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Hans Hull sold 15,936 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total value of $178,483.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 211,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,369,449.60. The trade was a 7.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 91,855 shares of company stock worth $1,026,628. 6.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $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 Pliant Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $99,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth $108,000. Finally, Corton Capital Inc. bought a new position in Pliant Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $138,000. 97.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.