Pliant Therapeutics’ (PLRX) “Hold” Rating Reiterated at Canaccord Genuity Group

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX)‘s stock had its “hold” rating restated by equities research analysts at Canaccord Genuity Group in a report released on Monday. They presently have a $4.00 target price on the stock, down from their previous target price of $43.00. Canaccord Genuity Group’s target price would indicate a potential downside of 48.65% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded shares of Pliant Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $4.00 in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company cut Pliant Therapeutics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $41.00 to $4.00 in a report on Monday. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Pliant Therapeutics from $38.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Citigroup downgraded Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $4.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, HC Wainwright cut shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $17.75.

Pliant Therapeutics Trading Down 34.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PLRX opened at $7.79 on Monday. 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 has a 12-month low of $7.18 and a 12-month high of $18.00. The business has a 50 day moving average of $12.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $12.94. The company has a market capitalization of $474.02 million, a PE ratio of -2.33 and a beta of 1.03.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.95) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.99) by $0.04. As a group, analysts forecast that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.65 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Hans Hull sold 15,936 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 value of $178,483.20. Following 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 52,419 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 430,517 shares in the company, valued at $4,821,790.40. The trade was a 10.85 % 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 corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Atria Investments Inc purchased a new position in Pliant Therapeutics during the third quarter worth approximately $112,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 65.0% during the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 11,694 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,000 after buying an additional 4,607 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at $145,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth $342,000. 97.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.