Leerink Partners Downgrades Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) to Market Perform

Leerink Partners lowered shares of Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research report released on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $2.00 price objective on the stock, down from their previous price objective of $33.00.

A number of other research analysts have also commented on PLRX. Citigroup lowered shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $4.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Pliant Therapeutics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $41.00 to $4.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Pliant Therapeutics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $4.00 target price (down previously from $43.00) on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.31.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Up 12.6 %

Shares of PLRX opened at $1.52 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.66. The firm has a market capitalization of $92.50 million, a P/E ratio of -0.46 and a beta of 1.03. 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 has a 52 week low of $1.26 and a 52 week high of $16.52.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 3rd. The company reported ($0.82) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.99) by $0.17. On average, equities research analysts expect that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pliant Therapeutics news, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 10,230 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $775,278.56. This represents a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 52,419 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 430,517 shares in the company, valued at $4,821,790.40. This represents a 10.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 91,855 shares of company stock valued at $1,026,628. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of PLRX. Silverarc Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $17,326,000. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $14,761,000. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 66.3% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,551,865 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,608,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017,500 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $8,556,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 300.8% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 197,251 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,598,000 after purchasing an additional 148,039 shares in the last quarter. 97.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.