Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) Price Target Cut to $10.00 by Analysts at Needham & Company LLC

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) had its price objective trimmed by Needham & Company LLC from $38.00 to $10.00 in a report published on Monday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on PLRX. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Pliant Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $45.00 to $4.00 in a research report on Monday. HC Wainwright lowered shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Pliant Therapeutics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $41.00 to $4.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $40.00 to $4.00 in a research report on Monday. Seven equities 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, Pliant Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.75.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock opened at $2.72 on Monday. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $12.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.79. The company has a market cap of $165.52 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.81 and a beta of 1.03. Pliant Therapeutics has a one year low of $2.43 and a one year high of $18.00.

Insider Activity at Pliant Therapeutics

In related news, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 10,230 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.99, for a total transaction of $112,427.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 70,544 shares in the company, valued at $775,278.56. This trade represents a 12.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 52,419 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 $587,092.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 430,517 shares in the company, valued at $4,821,790.40. This trade represents a 10.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 91,855 shares of company stock worth $1,026,628. Insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PLRX. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Pliant Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth $108,000. Atria Investments Inc purchased a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth about $112,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 65.0% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 11,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,000 after purchasing an additional 4,607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $145,000. 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 phase 2b trials for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and in phase 2a trial for primary sclerosing cholangitis.