ADAR1 Capital Management LLC Has $1.78 Million Holdings in Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX)

ADAR1 Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) by 45.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 134,798 shares of the company’s stock after selling 111,330 shares during the period. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Pliant Therapeutics were worth $1,775,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,045,577 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,770,000 after acquiring an additional 5,673 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 300.8% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 197,251 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,598,000 after acquiring an additional 148,039 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Pliant Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $108,000. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 10.9% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 100,849 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,328,000 after acquiring an additional 9,944 shares during the period. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 95,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,260,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.30% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Pliant Therapeutics

In other Pliant Therapeutics news, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 10,230 shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.99, for a total transaction of $112,427.70. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 70,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $775,278.56. The trade was a 12.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Hans Hull sold 15,936 shares of the business’s 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 in the company, 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 91,855 shares of company stock valued at $1,026,628. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on PLRX shares. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “hold” rating and issued a $4.00 price target (down from $43.00) on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Monday, February 10th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Leerink Partnrs cut shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $10.00 target price on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $13.31.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ PLRX opened at $1.34 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $82.06 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.40 and a beta of 1.46. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $1.24 and a 12 month high of $16.52. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $3.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.88.

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

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.