Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) Given “Buy” Rating at HC Wainwright

HC Wainwright reaffirmed their buy rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) in a report released on Friday morning, Benzinga reports. HC Wainwright currently has a $38.00 target price on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, September 9th. They issued an outperform rating and a $33.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC restated a buy rating and issued a $38.00 target price on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an overweight rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Pliant Therapeutics to a strong-buy rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Oppenheimer lowered their price objective on Pliant Therapeutics from $48.00 to $45.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of Buy and an average target price of $40.57.

Pliant Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of PLRX stock opened at $12.00 on Friday. Pliant Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $10.29 and a fifty-two week high of $19.62. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $12.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.18. The company has a current ratio of 14.47, a quick ratio of 14.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.92) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.85) by ($0.07). On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.71 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pliant Therapeutics news, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 7,656 shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.56, for a total value of $88,503.36. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 94,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,087,148.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Pliant Therapeutics news, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 38,710 shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.56, for a total value of $447,487.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 482,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,582,740.16. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 7,656 shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.56, for a total value of $88,503.36. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 94,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,087,148.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 69,596 shares of company stock valued at $804,530. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pliant Therapeutics

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth $37,000. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the second quarter worth $59,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the first quarter worth $107,000. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C bought a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the second quarter worth $126,000. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 67.1% in the first quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 11,581 shares of the company’s stock worth $173,000 after acquiring an additional 4,652 shares during the period. Institutional investors 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.