Pliant Therapeutics’ (PLRX) Neutral Rating Reiterated at HC Wainwright

by · The Markets Daily

HC Wainwright reissued their neutral rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX – Free Report) in a report published on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports.

A number of other brokerages also recently issued reports on PLRX. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $4.00 price objective (down previously from $43.00) on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price objective on shares of Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $10.00 price objective on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs downgraded shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.31.

Read Our Latest Analysis on Pliant Therapeutics

Pliant Therapeutics Trading Down 2.5 %

NASDAQ:PLRX opened at $1.58 on Tuesday. Pliant Therapeutics has a one year low of $1.26 and a one year high of $16.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 10.26 and a current ratio of 10.26. The firm has a market cap of $96.75 million, a P/E ratio of -0.47 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $6.04 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.77.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX – Get Free Report) 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. Equities analysts anticipate that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pliant Therapeutics news, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 10,230 shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.99, for a total transaction of $112,427.70. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 70,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,278.56. The trade was a 12.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 430,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 91,855 shares of company stock valued at $1,026,628. Insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pliant Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PLRX. Silverarc Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $17,326,000. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $14,761,000. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 66.3% in the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,551,865 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,608,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017,500 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $8,556,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 300.8% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 197,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,598,000 after purchasing an additional 148,039 shares during the period. 97.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pliant Therapeutics Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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