Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) Price Target Lowered to $3.00 at Wells Fargo & Company

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) had its target price reduced by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $4.00 to $3.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company‘s price target points to a potential upside of 97.37% from the company’s previous close.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on PLRX. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $4.00 price target (down from $43.00) on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, February 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Pliant Therapeutics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $40.00 to $4.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pliant Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.31.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of PLRX stock opened at $1.52 on Tuesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $92.50 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.46 and a beta of 1.03. Pliant Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $1.26 and a 52 week high of $16.52. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $11.66.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 3rd. The company reported ($0.82) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.99) by $0.17. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Hans Hull sold 15,936 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the insider now directly owns 211,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,369,449.60. This represents a 7.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 10,230 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.99, for a total value of $112,427.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 70,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 ninety days. 6.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PLRX. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,903 shares of the company’s stock worth $170,000 after purchasing an additional 1,209 shares in the last quarter. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 95,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,260,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc raised its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 11,821 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,000 after buying an additional 1,812 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 459,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,050,000 after acquiring an additional 2,721 shares during the last quarter. 97.30% of the stock is owned by 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.