Wells Fargo & Company Issues Pessimistic Forecast for Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) Stock Price

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) had its price objective cut by Wells Fargo & Company from $4.00 to $3.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an equal weight rating on the stock.

A number of other equities research analysts have also commented on the company. HC Wainwright lowered Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Leerink Partners lowered Pliant Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $33.00 to $2.00 in a research report on Monday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered Pliant Therapeutics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.31.

Pliant Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of PLRX stock opened at $1.35 on Tuesday. Pliant Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $1.27 and a fifty-two week high of $16.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $82.15 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.40 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. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $8.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.73.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The company reported ($0.82) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.99) by $0.17. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pliant Therapeutics

In other news, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 10,230 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.99, for a total transaction 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 represents a 12.66 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Hans Hull sold 15,936 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total value of $178,483.20. Following the transaction, the insider now directly 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 91,855 shares of company stock valued at $1,026,628. 6.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 1,299.0% during the fourth quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 5,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 5,196 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $99,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $108,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the third quarter worth approximately $112,000. 97.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.