Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) Earns Hold Rating from Canaccord Genuity Group

Canaccord Genuity Group restated their hold rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) in a report released on Monday morning, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has a $4.00 price objective on the stock, down from their prior price objective of $43.00.

PLRX has been the topic of several other reports. Needham & Company LLC reduced their price objective on Pliant Therapeutics from $38.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. 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 note on Monday. Citigroup lowered shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $4.00 in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Pliant Therapeutics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $41.00 to $4.00 in a report on Monday. Finally, HC Wainwright downgraded Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Pliant Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $17.75.

Pliant Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock opened at $2.72 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $12.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.79. Pliant Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $2.43 and a twelve month high of $18.00. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $165.52 million, a P/E ratio of -0.81 and a beta of 1.03.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pliant Therapeutics

In related news, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 13,270 shares of the company’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 $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 represents a 14.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Hans Hull sold 15,936 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 transaction of $178,483.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 211,558 shares in the company, valued at $2,369,449.60. This trade represents a 7.01 % 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 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

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Pliant Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Pliant Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $108,000. Atria Investments Inc acquired a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $112,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 4,607 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $145,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.