Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Brokerages

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $13.31.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Leerink Partners downgraded shares of Pliant Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $2.00 in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating and issued a $10.00 price target on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $4.00 price objective (down from $43.00) on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Pliant Therapeutics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th.

Pliant Therapeutics Trading Up 1.5 %

NASDAQ:PLRX opened at $1.37 on Wednesday. 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 1-year low of $1.24 and a 1-year high of $16.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.89 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.41 and a beta of 1.18. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $4.42 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $10.11.

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

Insider Activity at Pliant Therapeutics

In related news, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 13,270 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 $148,624.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 80,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $904,668.80. The trade was a 14.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 52,419 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total value of $587,092.80. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 91,855 shares of company stock worth $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 PLRX. State Street Corp increased its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,402,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,725,000 after buying an additional 26,610 shares during the period. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 265.2% in the third quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 170,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,908,000 after acquiring an additional 123,600 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 2.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,318,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,781,000 after acquiring an additional 31,221 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 27.2% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 30,729 shares of the company’s stock worth $405,000 after purchasing an additional 6,579 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,039,904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,657,000 after purchasing an additional 14,913 shares during the period. 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.