HC Wainwright Reaffirms Neutral Rating for Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX)

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating reaffirmed by investment analysts at HC Wainwright in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Pliant Therapeutics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $10.00 price target on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.31.

Pliant Therapeutics Price Performance

Pliant Therapeutics stock traded up $0.02 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $1.40. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,507,172 shares, compared to its average volume of 794,361. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 10.26 and a current ratio of 10.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $84.89 million, a PE ratio of -0.42 and a beta of 1.03. Pliant Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $1.29 and a fifty-two week high of $16.81.

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 research analysts forecast that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pliant Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 52,419 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total transaction of $587,092.80. Following the completion of 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 13,270 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total value of $148,624.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 80,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $904,668.80. This trade represents a 14.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 91,855 shares of company stock valued at $1,026,628 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP now owns 3,197,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,105,000 after purchasing an additional 92,564 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 66.3% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,551,865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,608,000 after acquiring an additional 1,017,500 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 1.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,402,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,725,000 after acquiring an additional 26,610 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,318,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,781,000 after purchasing an additional 31,221 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silverarc Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth about $17,326,000. 97.30% of the stock is currently owned by 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.