Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) Given Buy Rating at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. Needham & Company LLC currently has a $45.00 price objective on the stock.

Other equities analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Pliant Therapeutics from $51.00 to $52.00 and gave the company an outperform rating in a research note on Thursday, August 10th. HC Wainwright reiterated a buy rating and set a $50.00 price objective on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, August 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an overweight rating and set a $63.00 price objective on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, August 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Pliant Therapeutics from $57.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Thursday, August 10th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group assumed coverage on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, May 18th. They issued a buy rating and a $48.00 target price for the company. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $48.36.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PLRX opened at $16.39 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 19.16 and a current ratio of 19.16. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $17.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $21.87. Pliant Therapeutics has a one year low of $15.71 and a one year high of $36.64. The firm has a market cap of $980.61 million, a PE ratio of -5.98 and a beta of 1.25.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 9th. The company reported ($0.70) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.73) by $0.03. Pliant Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 2,872.79% and a negative return on equity of 33.10%. The firm had revenue of $0.25 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.10 million. As a group, equities analysts predict that Pliant Therapeutics will post -2.99 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Pliant Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 70,150 shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.01, for a total transaction of $1,263,401.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,103 shares in the company, valued at $6,161,275.03. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 70,150 shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, July 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.01, for a total transaction of $1,263,401.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 342,103 shares in the company, valued at $6,161,275.03. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 12,778 shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Monday, July 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.01, for a total transaction of $230,131.78. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 65,198 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,174,215.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 142,844 shares of company stock worth $2,596,440. Company insiders own 5.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. UBS Group AG increased its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 18.4% in the second quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 3,537 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 550 shares in the last quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 0.3% during the fourth quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 500,788 shares of the company’s stock worth $9,681,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255 shares in the last quarter. US Bancorp DE increased its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 144.3% during the second quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 1,270 shares in the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 107,978 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,087,000 after purchasing an additional 1,307 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Osaic Holdings Inc. increased its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 94.1% during the second quarter. Osaic Holdings Inc. now owns 2,746 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,000 after purchasing an additional 1,331 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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 three Phase IIa trials for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and primary sclerosing cholangitis.