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

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) has received a consensus recommendation of “Hold” from the eleven research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $17.75.

PLRX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on Pliant Therapeutics from $38.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup downgraded shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $4.00 in a research note 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. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $4.00 price target (down from $43.00) on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, February 10th.

Insider Activity at Pliant Therapeutics

In other news, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 13,270 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total transaction of $148,624.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 80,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $904,668.80. This trade represents a 14.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, 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 approximately $2,369,449.60. This represents a 7.01 % 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. Insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 1,299.0% during the fourth quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 5,596 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 5,196 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $108,000. Atria Investments Inc bought a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth about $112,000. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 65.0% in 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 97.30% of the company’s stock.

Pliant Therapeutics Price Performance

PLRX stock opened at $3.04 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $184.98 million, a PE ratio of -0.91 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. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $11.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.58. Pliant Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $2.43 and a 12-month high of $18.00.

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.