Pliant Therapeutics’ (PLRX) Hold Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX)‘s stock had its “hold” rating reissued by stock analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $10.00 price target on the stock.

Several other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut Pliant Therapeutics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $41.00 to $4.00 in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $4.00 price objective (down previously from $43.00) on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, February 10th. HC Wainwright cut shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Leerink Partners lowered shares of Pliant Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $33.00 to $2.00 in a report on Monday. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, one has given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.88.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of PLRX stock opened at $1.38 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $83.98 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.41 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $9.08 and a 200 day moving average of $11.81. Pliant Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $1.37 and a 52 week high of $16.81. The company has a quick ratio of 10.26, a current ratio of 10.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Hans Hull sold 15,936 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total transaction of $178,483.20. Following 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 52,419 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 430,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,821,790.40. The trade was a 10.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 91,855 shares of company stock worth $1,026,628 in the last three months. Insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC increased its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 1,299.0% during the fourth 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 position in Pliant Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $99,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Pliant Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $108,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc purchased a new position in Pliant Therapeutics in the third quarter worth about $112,000. Hedge funds and other 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.