Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) Lowered to Market Perform Rating by Leerink Partners

Leerink Partners downgraded shares of Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $2.00 target price on the stock, down from their previous target price of $33.00.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on Pliant Therapeutics from $38.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report 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. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Pliant Therapeutics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $41.00 to $4.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, HC Wainwright downgraded shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, two have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.88.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Down 59.9 %

Shares of PLRX stock opened at $1.38 on Monday. Pliant Therapeutics has a one year low of $1.37 and a one year high of $16.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 10.26 and a quick ratio of 10.26. The stock has a market cap of $83.98 million, a P/E ratio of -0.41 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $9.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.81.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last announced its 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. Analysts predict that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 10,230 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.99, for a total transaction of $112,427.70. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 70,544 shares in the company, valued at $775,278.56. The trade was a 12.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Hans Hull sold 15,936 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total transaction of $178,483.20. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 211,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,369,449.60. The trade was a 7.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 91,855 shares of company stock worth $1,026,628 in the last three months. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its position 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 buying an additional 1,209 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 95,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,260,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc boosted its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 11,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,000 after purchasing an additional 1,812 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 0.6% in 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.30% of the company’s stock.

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.