Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) Price Target Cut to $3.00 by Analysts at Wells Fargo & Company

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX - Get Free Report) had its price target decreased by investment analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $4.00 to $3.00 in a research report issued on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price target would indicate a potential upside of 85.19% from the company's current price.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Citigroup lowered Pliant Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their price target for the company from $40.00 to $4.00 in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Oppenheimer restated a "market perform" rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, February 10th. HC Wainwright lowered Pliant Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Leerink Partners lowered shares of Pliant Therapeutics from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $2.00 in a report on Monday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Pliant Therapeutics from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pliant Therapeutics has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $13.31.

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Pliant Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PLRX traded up $0.04 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $1.62. 1,636,036 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 848,791. The company has a quick ratio of 10.26, a current ratio of 10.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a market cap of $98.58 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.49 and a beta of 1.18. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.11 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.50. Pliant Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $1.26 and a twelve month high of $16.52.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The company reported ($0.82) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.99) by $0.17. As a group, analysts anticipate that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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 that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total value of $148,624.00. Following the transaction, 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 52,419 shares of the business'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 $587,092.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 430,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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 a total of 91,855 shares of company stock valued at $1,026,628 in the last 90 days. 6.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. acquired a new position in Pliant Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $14,761,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 18.3% during the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 139,574 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,838,000 after acquiring an additional 21,637 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 127,295 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,676,000 after purchasing an additional 15,635 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 31.8% during the fourth quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 18,931 shares of the company's stock worth $249,000 after purchasing an additional 4,570 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP raised its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 3.0% during the fourth 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.30% of the company's stock.

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.