Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) Given New $3.00 Price Target at Royal Bank of Canada

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) had its target price reduced by investment analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $4.00 to $3.00 in a report released on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a “sector perform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target suggests a potential upside of 113.52% from the company’s previous close.

PLRX has been the subject of several other reports. HC Wainwright lowered shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus cut Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday. Leerink Partners lowered Pliant Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $2.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.63.

Pliant Therapeutics Price Performance

PLRX traded up $0.03 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $1.41. The stock had a trading volume of 2,607,938 shares, compared to its average volume of 790,971. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $9.08 and a 200-day moving average of $11.81. Pliant Therapeutics has a one year low of $1.29 and a one year high of $16.81. The stock has a market cap of $85.50 million, a PE ratio of -0.41 and a beta of 1.03.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last posted its quarterly 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. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other Pliant Therapeutics news, insider Hans Hull sold 15,936 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total transaction of $178,483.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 211,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,369,449.60. This trade represents a 7.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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 completion of 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 91,855 shares of company stock valued at $1,026,628. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PLRX. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 233.8% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 91,979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,031,000 after purchasing an additional 64,422 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc bought a new position in Pliant Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $112,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in Pliant Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $388,000. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Pliant Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at $145,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 4.4% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 456,663 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,119,000 after acquiring an additional 19,281 shares in the last quarter. 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.