Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) have earned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the eight analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $40.50.

Separately, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 price target on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, November 8th.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Up 2.0 %

PLRX opened at $11.14 on Friday. Pliant Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $10.22 and a twelve month high of $18.92. The company has a quick ratio of 10.26, a current ratio of 10.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $13.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $13.06. The company has a market cap of $677.87 million, a PE ratio of -3.34 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Insider Buying and Selling 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 shares were sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total value of $587,092.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 430,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,821,790.40. This represents a 10.85 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 13,270 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $148,624.00. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 80,774 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $904,668.80. This represents a 14.11 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 91,855 shares of company stock worth $1,026,628. Insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pliant Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 27.2% during the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 30,729 shares of the company’s stock worth $405,000 after buying an additional 6,579 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 108,608 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,430,000 after buying an additional 16,634 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 4.2% during the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 95,801 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,262,000 after buying an additional 3,822 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exome Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter. Exome Asset Management LLC now owns 149,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,677,000 after purchasing an additional 25,600 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.30% of the company’s stock.

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.