Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) Trading Down 8.7% – Here’s Why

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX)’s stock price traded down 8.7% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $10.68 and last traded at $10.91. 176,235 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 472,033 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.95.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 price target on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $40.50.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Performance

The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $12.79 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $12.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $632.84 million, a PE ratio of -3.12 and a beta of 1.03. 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 (NASDAQ:PLRX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.95) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.99) by $0.04. On average, equities research analysts expect that Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Pliant Therapeutics

In other Pliant Therapeutics news, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 10,230 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.99, for a total value of $112,427.70. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 70,544 shares in the company, valued at $775,278.56. This trade represents a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Hans Hull sold 15,936 shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the insider now owns 211,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,369,449.60. This trade represents a 7.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 91,855 shares of company stock worth $1,026,628. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pliant Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Atria Investments Inc bought a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at $112,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 65.0% during the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 11,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,000 after buying an additional 4,607 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Pliant Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth about $145,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in Pliant Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth about $342,000. Institutional investors own 97.30% of the company’s stock.

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.