Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) Receives Consensus Rating of "Hold" from Analysts

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX - Get Free Report) has been assigned an average rating of "Hold" from the twelve research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation. The average 1-year price target among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $13.31.

Several research firms have weighed in on PLRX. Leerink Partners lowered Pliant Therapeutics from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $2.00 in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating and set a $10.00 price objective on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Leerink Partnrs cut Pliant Therapeutics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a "hold" rating and set a $4.00 price objective (down from $43.00) on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Monday, February 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th.

Pliant Therapeutics Trading Up 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PLRX traded up $0.03 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $1.34. The stock had a trading volume of 1,412,083 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,027,955. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $3.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.88. Pliant Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $1.24 and a twelve month high of $16.52. The firm has a market cap of $82.06 million, a PE ratio of -0.40 and a beta of 1.46. 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 posted its earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The company reported ($0.82) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.99) by $0.17. On average, research analysts predict that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pliant Therapeutics news, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 10,230 shares of the company's 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 approximately $775,278.56. This represents a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Hans Hull sold 15,936 shares of Pliant Therapeutics 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 211,558 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,369,449.60. This trade represents a 7.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 91,855 shares of company stock worth $1,026,628. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Pliant Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp boosted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 26,610 shares during the period. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. raised its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 265.2% in the third quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 170,200 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,908,000 after purchasing an additional 123,600 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 2.4% during the 3rd 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. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 27.2% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 30,729 shares of the company's stock worth $405,000 after buying an additional 6,579 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,039,904 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,657,000 after buying an additional 14,913 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.