Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) Lowered to Market Perform Rating by Leerink Partners

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX - Get Free Report) was downgraded by stock analysts at Leerink Partners from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a report released on Monday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $2.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $33.00. Leerink Partners' price target points to a potential upside of 26.58% from the company's previous close.

Several other analysts have also commented on PLRX. HC Wainwright lowered shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded 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. Oppenheimer restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup downgraded Pliant Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and reduced their target price for the company 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 price target (down previously from $43.00) on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $13.31.

Remove Ads

Pliant Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock traded up $0.06 on Monday, hitting $1.58. The company had a trading volume of 1,893,612 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,940,696. Pliant Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $1.26 and a 52 week high of $16.52. The company has a market cap of $96.15 million, a PE ratio of -0.47 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 10.26 and a quick ratio of 10.26.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The company reported ($0.82) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.99) by $0.17. Research analysts expect that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pliant Therapeutics news, insider Hans Hull sold 15,936 shares of the company'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 value of $178,483.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 211,558 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,369,449.60. This represents a 7.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 10,230 shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock in a transaction 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 sale, the general counsel now directly owns 70,544 shares of the company's stock, valued at $775,278.56. This trade represents a 12.66 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 91,855 shares of company stock worth $1,026,628. 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. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP now owns 3,197,050 shares of the company's stock worth $42,105,000 after purchasing an additional 92,564 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 66.3% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,551,865 shares of the company's stock worth $33,608,000 after buying an additional 1,017,500 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 1.9% during the third 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 2.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,318,308 shares of the company's stock valued at $14,781,000 after acquiring an additional 31,221 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silverarc Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $17,326,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.30% of the company's stock.

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.