Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) Lowered to Sector Perform Rating by Royal Bank of Canada

Royal Bank of Canada lowered shares of Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) from an outperform rating to a sector perform rating in a report released on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has $4.00 price target on the stock, down from their prior price target of $45.00.

Separately, HC Wainwright downgraded Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Pliant Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $17.75.

Pliant Therapeutics Price Performance

PLRX opened at $2.72 on Monday. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $12.18 and a 200 day moving average of $12.79. Pliant Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $2.43 and a 52-week high of $18.00. The stock has a market cap of $165.52 million, a P/E ratio of -0.81 and a beta of 1.03.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pliant Therapeutics news, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 10,230 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.99, for a total value of $112,427.70. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 70,544 shares in the company, valued at approximately $775,278.56. This trade represents a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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 value of $178,483.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 211,558 shares in the company, valued at $2,369,449.60. The trade was a 7.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 91,855 shares of company stock valued at $1,026,628. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,191 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 34.7% in the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 91,974 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,031,000 after purchasing an additional 23,685 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 65.0% in the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 11,694 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,000 after purchasing an additional 4,607 shares during the last quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC raised its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 23.2% in the third quarter. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC now owns 157,217 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,762,000 after purchasing an additional 29,583 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 233.8% during the third quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 91,979 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,031,000 after purchasing an additional 64,422 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.