Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) Given Average Recommendation of “Hold” by Analysts

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the twelve analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $13.31.

PLRX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Leerink Partnrs lowered shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $4.00 price objective (down previously from $43.00) on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Monday, February 10th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating and set a $10.00 target price on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their price target on Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th.

Pliant Therapeutics Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of PLRX stock opened at $1.54 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $6.94 and a 200 day moving average of $11.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 10.26 and a quick ratio of 10.26. Pliant Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $1.26 and a 1-year high of $16.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $94.30 million, a PE ratio of -0.46 and a beta of 1.18.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pliant Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 52,419 shares of Pliant Therapeutics 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 transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 10,230 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was 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 directly owns 70,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,278.56. This represents a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 91,855 shares of company stock valued at $1,026,628. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Silverarc Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at about $17,326,000. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $14,761,000. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 66.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $8,556,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 300.8% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 197,251 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,598,000 after acquiring an additional 148,039 shares during the last quarter. 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.