Oppenheimer Reiterates Market Perform Rating for Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX)

Oppenheimer reaffirmed their market perform rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on PLRX. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Pliant Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and lowered their target price for the company from $45.00 to $4.00 in a research note on Monday. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $4.00 target price (down previously from $43.00) on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Monday. HC Wainwright downgraded shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Needham & Company LLC decreased their price objective on shares of Pliant Therapeutics from $38.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Pliant Therapeutics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $41.00 to $4.00 in a report on Monday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Pliant Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.75.

Pliant Therapeutics Trading Down 60.6 %

NASDAQ:PLRX opened at $3.07 on Monday. Pliant Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $2.82 and a 12 month high of $18.00. The company’s 50 day moving average is $12.67 and its 200-day moving average is $12.94. 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 $186.81 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.92 and a beta of 1.03.

Insider Transactions at Pliant Therapeutics

In related news, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 52,419 shares of the business’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 430,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,821,790.40. The trade was a 10.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 10,230 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.99, for a total value of $112,427.70. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 70,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $775,278.56. The trade was a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 91,855 shares of company stock worth $1,026,628 over the last 90 days. 6.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Atria Investments Inc bought a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at $112,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings 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 acquired a new position in Pliant Therapeutics during the third quarter worth $145,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics during the third quarter worth $342,000. 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.