Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) Short Interest Update

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,540,000 shares, a decline of 51.0% from the January 31st total of 7,230,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,500,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.4 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pliant Therapeutics

In other news, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 13,270 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total value of $148,624.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 80,774 shares in the company, valued at approximately $904,668.80. This trade represents a 14.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Hans Hull sold 15,936 shares of the business’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 value of $178,483.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 211,558 shares in the company, valued at $2,369,449.60. This trade represents a 7.01 % 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. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PLRX. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Pliant Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 1,299.0% in the 4th quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 5,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 5,196 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $99,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at about $108,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc acquired a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $112,000. 97.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, February 10th. HC Wainwright downgraded shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup cut shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $4.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered Pliant Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $4.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Pliant Therapeutics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $41.00 to $4.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.75.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Up 5.5 %

Pliant Therapeutics stock traded up $0.18 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $3.44. The stock had a trading volume of 3,924,084 shares, compared to its average volume of 706,337. The company has a current ratio of 10.26, a quick ratio of 10.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $9.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.89. Pliant Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $2.43 and a 12 month high of $17.00. The stock has a market cap of $209.34 million, a P/E ratio of -1.03 and a beta of 1.03.

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.