Royal Bank of Canada Cuts Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) Price Target to $3.00

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) had its price target trimmed by Royal Bank of Canada from $4.00 to $3.00 in a report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a sector perform rating on the stock.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued reports about the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Pliant Therapeutics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating and set a $10.00 price objective on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.31.

Pliant Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PLRX opened at $1.58 on Tuesday. Pliant Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $1.26 and a twelve month high of $16.52. 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 company has a market capitalization of $96.15 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.47 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $8.35 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.59.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. As a group, analysts expect that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 52,419 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total value of $587,092.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 430,517 shares in the company, valued at $4,821,790.40. This represents a 10.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 10,230 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.99, for a total value of $112,427.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 70,544 shares in the company, valued at $775,278.56. This represents a 12.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 91,855 shares of company stock worth $1,026,628 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 10.3% in the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,903 shares of the company’s stock worth $170,000 after buying an additional 1,209 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank increased its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 95,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,260,000 after buying an additional 1,500 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc increased its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 11,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,000 after buying an additional 1,812 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Pliant Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 459,384 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,050,000 after buying an additional 2,721 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.