HC Wainwright Reaffirms “Neutral” Rating for Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX)

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating restated by HC Wainwright in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on PLRX. Citigroup lowered their price target on Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $1.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered 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 set a $4.00 price target (down previously from $43.00) on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.31.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PLRX opened at $1.62 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 10.26, a current ratio of 10.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $99.20 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.49 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $6.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $10.84. Pliant Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $1.26 and a 52-week high of $16.52.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The company reported ($0.82) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.99) by $0.17. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Pliant Therapeutics

In other Pliant Therapeutics news, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 10,230 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 70,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $775,278.56. The trade was a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 52,419 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total value of $587,092.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 430,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,821,790.40. This represents a 10.85 % decrease in their position. 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. Insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pliant Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PLRX. Atria Investments Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the third quarter worth about $112,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth about $388,000. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth about $145,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 456,663 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,119,000 after purchasing an additional 19,281 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC lifted its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 52.6% during the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 106,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,195,000 after purchasing an additional 36,720 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.