Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) Downgraded to “Neutral” Rating by Citigroup

Citigroup lowered shares of Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report released on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. Citigroup currently has $4.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $40.00.

Other equities analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lowered 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 note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company cut Pliant Therapeutics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their target price for the stock from $41.00 to $4.00 in a research report on Monday. Finally, HC Wainwright lowered Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.75.

Pliant Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ PLRX opened at $3.07 on Monday. Pliant Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $2.82 and a 1 year high of $18.00. The business’s fifty day moving average is $12.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $186.81 million, a P/E ratio of -0.92 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 10.26 and a current ratio of 10.26.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pliant Therapeutics

In other Pliant Therapeutics news, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 52,419 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total value of $587,092.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 430,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,821,790.40. This represents a 10.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Hans Hull sold 15,936 shares of the 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 sale, the insider now owns 211,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,369,449.60. The trade was a 7.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 91,855 shares of company stock worth $1,026,628 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

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