Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) Receives “Market Perform” Rating from Oppenheimer

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX)‘s stock had its “market perform” rating reissued by Oppenheimer in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on PLRX. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $4.00 price target (down from $43.00) on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded shares of 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 research report on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of Pliant Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $45.00 to $4.00 in a research note on Monday. HC Wainwright downgraded shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on Pliant Therapeutics from $38.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $17.75.

Pliant Therapeutics Trading Down 34.8 %

Shares of PLRX opened at $7.79 on Monday. Pliant Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $7.18 and a 1-year high of $18.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $474.02 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -2.33 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $12.67 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.94. The company has a current ratio of 10.26, a quick ratio of 10.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.95) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.99) by $0.04. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.65 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Pliant Therapeutics

In other Pliant Therapeutics news, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 52,419 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total value of $587,092.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 430,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,821,790.40. This represents a 10.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Hans Hull sold 15,936 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider now owns 211,558 shares of the company’s stock, 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 have sold 91,855 shares of company stock valued at $1,026,628 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Checkpoint Capital L.P. boosted its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 63.7% in the third quarter. Checkpoint Capital L.P. now owns 380,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,260,000 after purchasing an additional 147,800 shares during the period. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 265.2% during the 3rd quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 170,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,908,000 after buying an additional 123,600 shares in the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. boosted its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 900,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,854,000 after buying an additional 66,888 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 233.8% in the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 91,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,031,000 after buying an additional 64,422 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sphera Funds Management LTD. raised its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 15.0% during the third quarter. Sphera Funds Management LTD. now owns 297,362 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,333,000 after acquiring an additional 38,808 shares during the period. 97.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.