Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) Given New $10.00 Price Target at Needham & Company LLC

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) had its price target reduced by equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC from $38.00 to $10.00 in a research report issued on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 28.37% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada cut Pliant Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $4.00 in a research report on Monday. HC Wainwright lowered shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Citigroup cut shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $4.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut shares of Pliant Therapeutics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $41.00 to $4.00 in a research note on Monday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.71.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Down 34.8 %

PLRX stock opened at $7.79 on Monday. Pliant Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $7.18 and a 12 month high of $18.00. 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 company has a market cap of $474.02 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.33 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $12.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.94.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.95) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.99) by $0.04. Sell-side analysts expect that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.65 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Pliant Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 52,419 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 $587,092.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 430,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,821,790.40. This trade represents a 10.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 10,230 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the general counsel now owns 70,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,278.56. This represents a 12.66 % decrease in their position. 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 ninety days. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pliant Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Candriam S.C.A. increased its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 900,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,854,000 after buying an additional 66,888 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc grew its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 11,821 shares of the company’s stock valued at $156,000 after acquiring an additional 1,812 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 459,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,050,000 after acquiring an additional 2,721 shares during the last quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC increased its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 160,522 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,114,000 after acquiring an additional 3,305 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HighMark Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. HighMark Wealth Management LLC now owns 75,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $988,000 after acquiring an additional 7,500 shares during the last quarter. 97.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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.