Canaccord Genuity Group Reiterates Hold Rating for Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX)

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX)‘s stock had its “hold” rating restated by research analysts at Canaccord Genuity Group in a note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $4.00 price target on the stock, down from their previous price target of $43.00. Canaccord Genuity Group’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 53.26% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Pliant Therapeutics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $41.00 to $4.00 in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank of Canada cut shares of Pliant Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and decreased their target price for the company from $45.00 to $4.00 in a research note on Monday. Citigroup downgraded shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $4.00 in a report on Monday. HC Wainwright cut shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC lowered their price objective on shares of Pliant Therapeutics from $38.00 to $10.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.75.

Pliant Therapeutics Trading Down 15.0 %

Pliant Therapeutics stock opened at $2.61 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. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $12.42 and a 200-day moving average of $12.87. The company has a market cap of $158.82 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.78 and a beta of 1.03. Pliant Therapeutics has a one year low of $2.60 and a one year high of $18.00.

Insider Activity at Pliant Therapeutics

In related news, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 13,270 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total transaction of $148,624.00. Following the transaction, the general counsel now directly owns 80,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $904,668.80. This trade represents a 14.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 Pliant Therapeutics 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 completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 91,855 shares of company stock worth $1,026,628. Insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 83,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $897,000 after buying an additional 1,191 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 233.8% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 91,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,031,000 after acquiring an additional 64,422 shares in the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc bought a new position in Pliant Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at approximately $112,000. State Street Corp raised its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 1.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,402,730 shares of the company’s stock valued at $15,725,000 after purchasing an additional 26,610 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. lifted its stake in 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. 97.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.