Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) Given Neutral Rating at Cantor Fitzgerald

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating restated by equities researchers at Cantor Fitzgerald in a research note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Citigroup lowered Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $40.00 to $4.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus cut Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Leerink Partners cut shares of Pliant Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $2.00 in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $10.00 price objective on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.75.

Pliant Therapeutics Trading Up 5.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ PLRX opened at $1.45 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $88.48 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.42 and a beta of 1.03. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $9.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.81. 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 $1.37 and a 12-month high of $16.81.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last announced its quarterly 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. Equities research analysts expect that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.64 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Pliant Therapeutics

In related news, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 13,270 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 $148,624.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 80,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $904,668.80. The trade was a 14.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 52,419 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 value of $587,092.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 430,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,821,790.40. This represents a 10.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 91,855 shares of company stock valued at $1,026,628. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Pliant Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 buying an additional 5,196 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $99,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $108,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc acquired a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $112,000. 97.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.