Brokerages Set Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) Price Target at $40.50

Shares of Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) have been given an average recommendation of “Buy” by the eight research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on 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 note on Friday, November 8th.

Insider Transactions at Pliant Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 52,419 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total value of $587,092.80. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 430,517 shares in the company, valued at $4,821,790.40. This represents a 10.85 % 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 the stock in a transaction on 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 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. Insiders have sold 91,855 shares of company stock worth $1,026,628 over the last 90 days. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth about $33,000. Atria Investments Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth about $112,000. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C purchased a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth about $126,000. 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 purchased a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth about $145,000. 97.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pliant Therapeutics Trading Up 2.0 %

NASDAQ:PLRX opened at $11.14 on Friday. Pliant Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $10.22 and a 52 week high of $18.92. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $13.18 and a 200 day moving average of $13.06. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $677.87 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.34 and a beta of 1.05.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.95) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.99) by $0.04. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.65 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.