Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) Cut to Market Perform at Leerink Partners

Leerink Partners lowered shares of Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $2.00 price target on the stock, down from their prior price target of $33.00.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the company. HC Wainwright downgraded Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $4.00 price target (down from $43.00) on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup downgraded Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $4.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Pliant Therapeutics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $41.00 to $4.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat, Pliant Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.31.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PLRX opened at $1.52 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 10.26 and a quick ratio of 10.26. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $8.60 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.66. The stock has a market cap of $92.50 million, a P/E ratio of -0.46 and a beta of 1.03. Pliant Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $1.26 and a 1-year high of $16.52.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pliant Therapeutics news, insider Hans Hull sold 15,936 shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $2,369,449.60. The trade was a 7.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 52,419 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total transaction of $587,092.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 430,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,821,790.40. This represents a 10.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 91,855 shares of company stock worth $1,026,628. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 233.8% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 91,979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,031,000 after purchasing an additional 64,422 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc acquired a new position in Pliant Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth $112,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,402,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,725,000 after acquiring an additional 26,610 shares during the last quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. lifted its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 265.2% during the 3rd quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 170,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,908,000 after acquiring an additional 123,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,318,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,781,000 after acquiring an additional 31,221 shares during the last quarter. 97.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.