Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Brokerages

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the eleven analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have assigned a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $17.75.

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Pliant Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $45.00 to $4.00 in a research note on Monday. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on shares of Pliant Therapeutics from $38.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. HC Wainwright downgraded shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Pliant Therapeutics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $4.00 price objective (down from $43.00) on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Monday.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Performance

PLRX stock opened at $3.07 on Tuesday. Pliant Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $2.82 and a twelve month high of $18.00. The firm has a market cap of $186.81 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.92 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.94. The company has a quick ratio of 10.26, a current ratio of 10.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pliant Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 52,419 shares of the firm’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 $587,092.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 430,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,821,790.40. This trade represents a 10.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 13,270 shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total transaction of $148,624.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 80,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $904,668.80. The trade was a 14.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 91,855 shares of company stock valued at $1,026,628. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Pliant Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Atria Investments Inc acquired a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics in the third quarter worth about $112,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 65.0% during the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 11,694 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,000 after acquiring an additional 4,607 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at about $145,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $342,000. 97.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.