Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) Receives Neutral Rating from HC Wainwright

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

PLRX has been the topic of several other reports. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $4.00 price objective (down from $43.00) on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $1.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.31.

Pliant Therapeutics Trading Down 6.1 %

PLRX traded down $0.10 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $1.60. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 468,652 shares, compared to its average volume of 881,690. 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 firm has a market cap of $97.73 million, a P/E ratio of -0.48 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $6.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.98. Pliant Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $1.26 and a 52-week high of $16.52.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Pliant Therapeutics

In other Pliant Therapeutics 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 value 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 10,230 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.99, for a total value of $112,427.70. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 70,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $775,278.56. This trade 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 in the last three months. 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 bought a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC increased its holdings 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 valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 5,196 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $99,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Pliant Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth $108,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc bought a new position in Pliant Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth $112,000. 97.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.