HC Wainwright Reaffirms Neutral Rating for Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX)

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "neutral" rating reissued by investment analysts at HC Wainwright in a report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. HC Wainwright also issued estimates for Pliant Therapeutics' Q1 2025 earnings at ($0.86) EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at ($0.50) EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at ($0.51) EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at ($0.65) EPS, FY2025 earnings at ($2.49) EPS, FY2026 earnings at ($2.71) EPS, FY2027 earnings at ($1.47) EPS, FY2028 earnings at $0.04 EPS and FY2029 earnings at $1.80 EPS.

PLRX has been the subject of a number of other reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating and set a $10.00 price target on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday. Leerink Partners lowered Pliant Therapeutics from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $33.00 to $2.00 in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut Pliant Therapeutics from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup cut Pliant Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $4.00 in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $4.00 target price (down previously from $43.00) on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Monday, February 10th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $13.31.

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Pliant Therapeutics Price Performance

Pliant Therapeutics stock traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $1.62. 1,636,036 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 850,969. The stock's fifty day moving average is $8.11 and its 200-day moving average is $11.49. Pliant Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $1.26 and a 12 month high of $16.52. The stock has a market cap of $98.58 million, a P/E ratio of -0.49 and a beta of 1.18. 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 - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The company reported ($0.82) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.99) by $0.17. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.64 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pliant Therapeutics news, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 13,270 shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total transaction of $148,624.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 80,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at $904,668.80. The trade was a 14.11 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 52,419 shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total value of $587,092.80. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 91,855 shares of company stock valued at $1,026,628. Insiders own 6.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PLRX. Silverarc Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $17,326,000. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. bought a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $14,761,000. Deutsche Bank AG raised its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 66.3% during 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 in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. bought a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $8,556,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position 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 worth $2,598,000 after acquiring an additional 148,039 shares in the last quarter. 97.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.