Leerink Partnrs Downgrades Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) to Hold

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) was downgraded by stock analysts at Leerink Partnrs from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on PLRX. Leerink Partners cut Pliant Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $2.00 in a report 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. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Citigroup dropped their price target on Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $1.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.31.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Down 2.2 %

Pliant Therapeutics stock opened at $1.35 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 10.26 and a current ratio of 10.26. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $8.84 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $11.73. The company has a market cap of $82.15 million, a PE ratio of -0.40 and a beta of 1.03. Pliant Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $1.27 and a fifty-two week high of $16.73.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The company reported ($0.82) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.99) by $0.17. Equities analysts anticipate that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.64 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pliant Therapeutics news, insider Hans Hull sold 15,936 shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. The trade was a 7.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 10,230 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.99, for a total transaction of $112,427.70. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 70,544 shares of the company’s stock, 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 have sold a total of 91,855 shares of company stock valued at $1,026,628 over the last quarter. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. bought a new position in Pliant Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth about $14,761,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 18.3% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 139,574 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,838,000 after buying an additional 21,637 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 127,295 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,676,000 after purchasing an additional 15,635 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 31.8% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 18,931 shares of the company’s stock valued at $249,000 after buying an additional 4,570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP grew its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP now owns 3,197,050 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,105,000 after buying an additional 92,564 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.30% of the company’s stock.

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.