Pliant Therapeutics’ (PLRX) “Neutral” Rating Reaffirmed at HC Wainwright

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX)‘s stock had its “neutral” rating restated by equities researchers at HC Wainwright in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on PLRX. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup decreased their price target on Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $1.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs lowered Pliant Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.31.

Pliant Therapeutics Trading Down 4.1 %

Shares of PLRX opened at $1.62 on Tuesday. Pliant Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $1.26 and a 12-month high of $16.52. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $99.20 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.49 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $6.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $10.84.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. As a group, research analysts predict that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pliant Therapeutics news, insider Hans Hull sold 15,936 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 owns 211,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,369,449.60. This represents a 7.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 13,270 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total value of $148,624.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 80,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $904,668.80. This trade represents a 14.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In 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 Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in PLRX. Atria Investments Inc acquired a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at $112,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at $388,000. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth $145,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 4.4% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 456,663 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,119,000 after acquiring an additional 19,281 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Algert Global LLC lifted its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 52.6% during the third quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 106,562 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,195,000 after acquiring an additional 36,720 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.