Needham & Company LLC Lowers Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) Price Target to $10.00

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) had its price target lowered by equities researchers at Needham & Company LLC from $38.00 to $10.00 in a report released on Monday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a “buy” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 283.14% from the company’s previous close.

PLRX has been the subject of a number of other research reports. Royal Bank of Canada downgraded Pliant Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $45.00 to $4.00 in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded Pliant Therapeutics from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $41.00 to $4.00 in a report on Monday. HC Wainwright cut Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Citigroup lowered shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $4.00 in a research note on Monday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $17.75.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Down 15.0 %

NASDAQ PLRX opened at $2.61 on Monday. Pliant Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $2.60 and a 12 month high of $18.00. The company has a market capitalization of $158.82 million, a P/E ratio of -0.78 and a beta of 1.03. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $12.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $12.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 10.26 and a quick ratio of 10.26.

Insider Transactions at Pliant Therapeutics

In related news, insider Hans Hull sold 15,936 shares of the business’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 completion of the sale, the insider now 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 13,270 shares of the 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 $148,624.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the general counsel now owns 80,774 shares in the company, valued at $904,668.80. This represents a 14.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 91,855 shares of company stock valued at $1,026,628 over the last three months. 6.40% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pliant Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new position in Pliant Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at about $108,000. Atria Investments Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the third quarter worth about $112,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 65.0% during the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 11,694 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,000 after acquiring an additional 4,607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter valued at about $145,000. 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.