Leerink Partnrs Downgrades Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) to Hold

Leerink Partnrs cut shares of Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX - Free Report) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Monday,Zacks.com reports. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for Pliant Therapeutics' Q1 2025 earnings at ($1.00) EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at ($0.55) EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at ($0.51) EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at ($0.47) EPS, FY2025 earnings at ($2.53) EPS and FY2026 earnings at ($2.14) EPS.

Other research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Leerink Partners downgraded shares of Pliant Therapeutics from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their target price for the company from $33.00 to $2.00 in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. HC Wainwright reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a "hold" rating and set a $4.00 target price (down previously from $43.00) on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pliant Therapeutics has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $13.31.

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Pliant Therapeutics Trading Up 2.5 %

Shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock traded up $0.04 on Monday, hitting $1.62. 1,636,036 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 850,969. 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 $98.58 million, a PE ratio of -0.49 and a beta of 1.18. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $8.11 and its 200-day moving average price is $11.49. The company has a current ratio of 10.26, a quick ratio of 10.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Pliant Therapeutics

In related news, insider Hans Hull sold 15,936 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total value of $178,483.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 211,558 shares in the company, valued at $2,369,449.60. This represents a 7.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 13,270 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $904,668.80. This trade represents a 14.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 91,855 shares of company stock worth $1,026,628. 6.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP boosted its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 3.0% in 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 lifted its stake in shares of 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,402,730 shares of the company's stock worth $15,725,000 after purchasing an additional 26,610 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 2.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,318,308 shares of the company's stock worth $14,781,000 after buying an additional 31,221 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Silverarc Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $17,326,000. 97.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.