Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) Rating Lowered to “Neutral” at HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright lowered shares of Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research report report published on Monday morning, MarketBeat reports.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of PLRX opened at $3.07 on Monday. 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. Pliant Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $2.82 and a 1 year high of $18.00. The company’s fifty day moving average is $12.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.94.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 52,419 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 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. This represents a 10.85 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Hans Hull sold 15,936 shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was 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 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 91,855 shares of company stock valued at $1,026,628 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

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