Analysts Set Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) Target Price at $13.31

Shares of Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the twelve research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $13.31.

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on PLRX shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded shares of Pliant Therapeutics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, March 4th.

Pliant Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of PLRX stock opened at $1.34 on Wednesday. Pliant Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $1.24 and a twelve month high of $16.52. The company has a current ratio of 10.26, a quick ratio of 10.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $3.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $9.88. The stock has a market capitalization of $82.06 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.40 and a beta of 1.46.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The company reported ($0.82) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.99) by $0.17. On average, analysts predict that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Hans Hull sold 15,936 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 211,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,369,449.60. The trade was a 7.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 52,419 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total value of $587,092.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 430,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,821,790.40. The trade was a 10.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 91,855 shares of company stock worth $1,026,628 over the last 90 days. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 1.9% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,402,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,725,000 after buying an additional 26,610 shares during the last quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 265.2% during the third quarter. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. now owns 170,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,908,000 after purchasing an additional 123,600 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 2.4% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,318,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,781,000 after purchasing an additional 31,221 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 27.2% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 30,729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 6,579 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,039,904 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,657,000 after purchasing an additional 14,913 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.