Pliant Therapeutics’ (PLRX) “Neutral” Rating Reiterated at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald restated their neutral rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) in a report published on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Cantor Fitzgerald also issued estimates for Pliant Therapeutics’ FY2025 earnings at ($1.51) EPS.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $4.00 price target (down previously from $43.00) on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Monday, February 10th. HC Wainwright downgraded shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Pliant Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price target for the company from $45.00 to $4.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Citigroup lowered Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $40.00 to $4.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.31.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ PLRX opened at $1.58 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $96.15 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.47 and a beta of 1.18. Pliant Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $1.26 and a twelve month high of $16.52. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $8.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.59. The company has a quick ratio of 10.26, a current ratio of 10.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The company reported ($0.82) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.99) by $0.17. Sell-side analysts expect that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.64 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Pliant Therapeutics news, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 52,419 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total value of $587,092.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 430,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,821,790.40. This represents a 10.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Hans Hull sold 15,936 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 value of $178,483.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly 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. Insiders sold a total of 91,855 shares of company stock worth $1,026,628 in the last three months. Company insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pliant Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 10.3% in the fourth 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 raised 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 worth $1,260,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc lifted 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 valued at $156,000 after acquiring an additional 1,812 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Pliant Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 459,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,050,000 after purchasing an additional 2,721 shares in the last quarter. 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.