Pliant Therapeutics’ (PLRX) Neutral Rating Reaffirmed at Cantor Fitzgerald

Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed their neutral rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) in a research note released on Tuesday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

PLRX has been the topic of several other reports. Leerink Partners lowered Pliant Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $33.00 to $2.00 in a research note on Monday. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $10.00 price objective on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered Pliant Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $4.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, HC Wainwright lowered Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.31.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of PLRX opened at $1.35 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $82.15 million, a PE ratio of -0.40 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $8.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $11.73. 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 $1.27 and a 1 year high of $16.73.

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, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.99) by $0.17. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.64 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Hans Hull sold 15,936 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 transaction of $178,483.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 211,558 shares in the company, valued at $2,369,449.60. The trade was a 7.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 transaction, the general counsel now owns 70,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $775,278.56. The trade was 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 over the last ninety days. 6.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 1,299.0% in the 4th quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 5,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 5,196 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth about $99,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth about $108,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc purchased a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth about $112,000. 97.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.