Pliant Therapeutics’ (PLRX) “Market Perform” Rating Reaffirmed at Oppenheimer

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX)‘s stock had its “market perform” rating reissued by investment analysts at Oppenheimer in a research note issued to investors on Monday.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Citigroup lowered shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $4.00 in a research report on Monday. HC Wainwright downgraded shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Pliant Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $45.00 to $4.00 in a report on Monday. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $4.00 price target (down from $43.00) on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Monday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on Pliant Therapeutics from $38.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $17.75.

Pliant Therapeutics Trading Down 34.8 %

Shares of PLRX stock opened at $7.79 on Monday. Pliant Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $7.18 and a 12-month high of $18.00. The company has a quick ratio of 10.26, a current ratio of 10.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a 50 day moving average of $12.67 and a 200-day moving average of $12.94. The firm has a market cap of $474.02 million, a P/E ratio of -2.33 and a beta of 1.03.

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, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.99) by $0.04. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Hans Hull sold 15,936 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total transaction of $178,483.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 211,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,369,449.60. This trade represents a 7.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 10,230 shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was 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 91,855 shares of company stock worth $1,026,628 in the last ninety days. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Atria Investments Inc purchased a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics in the third quarter worth approximately $112,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 65.0% in the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 11,694 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,000 after buying an additional 4,607 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Pliant Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at approximately $145,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the third quarter worth approximately $342,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.30% of the company’s stock.

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.