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

Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated their hold rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) in a research note issued to investors on Monday morning, Marketbeat.com reports. Canaccord Genuity Group currently has a $4.00 target price on the stock, down from their prior target price of $43.00.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on PLRX. HC Wainwright cut Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Needham & Company LLC decreased their target price on shares of Pliant Therapeutics from $38.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Citigroup downgraded shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $4.00 in a research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of Pliant Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $4.00 in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered shares of Pliant Therapeutics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and dropped their target price for the company 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pliant Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $17.75.

Pliant Therapeutics Trading Down 60.6 %

PLRX opened at $3.07 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 10.26 and a quick ratio of 10.26. Pliant Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $2.82 and a fifty-two week high of $18.00. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $12.67 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $12.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $186.81 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.92 and a beta of 1.03.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 10,230 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.99, for a total value of $112,427.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 70,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $775,278.56. This trade represents a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Hans Hull sold 15,936 shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total value of $178,483.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 91,855 shares of company stock valued at $1,026,628 in the last three months. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Atria Investments Inc bought a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics in the third quarter worth $112,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its position 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 valued at $131,000 after buying an additional 4,607 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at about $145,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the third quarter worth about $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.