Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) Given Average Recommendation of "Hold" by Analysts

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX - Get Free Report) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from the eleven analysts that are covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, three have given a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $17.75.

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on PLRX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Pliant Therapeutics from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday. HC Wainwright downgraded shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of Pliant Therapeutics from an "overweight" rating to an "equal weight" rating and cut their price target for the company from $41.00 to $4.00 in a report on Monday. Oppenheimer restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Monday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group restated a "hold" rating and set a $4.00 target price (down from $43.00) on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Monday.

Pliant Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of PLRX traded down $0.25 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $3.04. The company had a trading volume of 3,584,808 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,185,683. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $12.66. The company has a current ratio of 10.26, a quick ratio of 10.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a market capitalization of $184.98 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.91 and a beta of 1.03. Pliant Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $2.43 and a 12-month high of $18.00.

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Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pliant Therapeutics news, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 13,270 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total transaction of $148,624.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 80,774 shares of the company's stock, valued at $904,668.80. This trade represents a 14.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 52,419 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total transaction of $587,092.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 430,517 shares in the company, valued at $4,821,790.40. This represents a 10.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 91,855 shares of company stock valued at $1,026,628 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 6.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 1.4% in the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 83,483 shares of the company's stock worth $897,000 after acquiring an additional 1,191 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,903 shares of the company's stock worth $170,000 after buying an additional 1,209 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 95,700 shares of the company's stock worth $1,260,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc raised its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 18.1% in the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 11,821 shares of the company's stock valued at $156,000 after acquiring an additional 1,812 shares during the period. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. 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.