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

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of 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 volume of 1,500,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.4 days.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PLRX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. HC Wainwright cut shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup lowered shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $4.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Pliant Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $45.00 to $4.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, 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 report on Monday, February 10th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.75.

Pliant Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock traded up $0.18 during trading on Friday, reaching $3.44. 3,924,084 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 707,814. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 10.26 and a current ratio of 10.26. Pliant Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $2.43 and a 1-year high of $16.81. The company has a market cap of $209.34 million, a P/E ratio of -1.03 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $9.32 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pliant Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 52,419 shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total transaction of $587,092.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 430,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,821,790.40. This trade represents a 10.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Hans Hull sold 15,936 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 value of $178,483.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 211,558 shares of the company’s stock, 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 worth $1,026,628 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PLRX. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in 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 shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the third quarter worth $112,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,402,730 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,725,000 after acquiring an additional 26,610 shares during the last quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 265.2% during the 3rd quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 170,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,908,000 after acquiring an additional 123,600 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew 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. Institutional investors own 97.30% of the company’s stock.

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.