Wells Fargo & Company Has Lowered Expectations for Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) Stock Price

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) had its price objective cut by Wells Fargo & Company from $4.00 to $3.00 in a report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on PLRX. Leerink Partners cut Pliant Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $2.00 in a report on Monday. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $10.00 price objective on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $4.00 target price (down from $43.00) on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered shares of Pliant Therapeutics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Pliant Therapeutics has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.31.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PLRX opened at $1.58 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $8.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.59. 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 has a 12-month low of $1.26 and a 12-month high of $16.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.15 million, a P/E ratio of -0.47 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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.99) by $0.17. Equities research analysts forecast that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Pliant Therapeutics

In other Pliant Therapeutics news, insider Hans Hull sold 15,936 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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. The trade was a 7.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 10,230 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.99, for a total transaction of $112,427.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 70,544 shares in the company, valued at $775,278.56. This represents a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 quarter. 6.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 1,299.0% in the fourth quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 5,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 5,196 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new position in Pliant Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth about $99,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in Pliant Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at about $108,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc bought a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $112,000. 97.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.