Canaccord Genuity Group Reaffirms Hold Rating for Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX)

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Canaccord Genuity Group in a research report issued on Monday. They presently have a $4.00 price target on the stock, down from their prior price target of $43.00. Canaccord Genuity Group’s price target suggests a potential downside of 48.65% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup downgraded shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $4.00 in a research note on Monday. HC Wainwright cut Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered Pliant Therapeutics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $41.00 to $4.00 in a research report on Monday. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Pliant Therapeutics from $38.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Pliant Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $4.00 in a report on Monday. Six 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.75.

Pliant Therapeutics Price Performance

PLRX opened at $7.79 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $474.02 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.33 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. Pliant Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $7.18 and a 12-month high of $18.00. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $12.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $12.94.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.95) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.99) by $0.04. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pliant Therapeutics

In other news, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 13,270 shares of the company’s 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 in the company, valued at $904,668.80. This represents a 14.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Hans Hull sold 15,936 shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider now owns 211,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,369,449.60. This trade represents a 7.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 91,855 shares of company stock worth $1,026,628. 6.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Pliant Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth $33,000. Atria Investments Inc purchased a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the third quarter worth about $112,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 65.0% during the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 11,694 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,000 after purchasing an additional 4,607 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $145,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Pliant Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $342,000. 97.30% of the stock is 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.