Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) Trading 3.5% Higher After Analyst Upgrade

Posted by Defense World Staff on May 3rd, 2023

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX – Get Rating) shares shot up 3.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on the stock from $52.00 to $63.00. The company traded as high as $23.26 and last traded at $23.08. 108,559 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 87% from the average session volume of 834,856 shares. The stock had previously closed at $22.31.

PLRX has been the subject of several other research reports. HC Wainwright raised their target price on Pliant Therapeutics from $54.00 to $55.00 in a research report on Monday. SVB Leerink upped their price objective on Pliant Therapeutics from $33.00 to $45.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 24th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Pliant Therapeutics from $51.00 to $47.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 10th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Pliant Therapeutics from $55.00 to $50.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 13th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price target on Pliant Therapeutics from $60.00 to $58.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 10th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $47.64.

Insider Transactions at Pliant Therapeutics

In other Pliant Therapeutics news, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 4,874 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.52, for a total transaction of $129,258.48. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 53,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,423,222.32. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 4,874 shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.52, for a total value of $129,258.48. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 53,666 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,423,222.32. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 35,339 shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.52, for a total value of $937,190.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 274,753 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,286,449.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 79,295 shares of company stock worth $2,210,030. Company insiders own 6.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. UNC Management Company Inc. acquired a new position in Pliant Therapeutics during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,049,000. Blackstone Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $210,000. Quantamental Technologies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $341,000. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 9.7% in the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 589,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,310,000 after buying an additional 51,887 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC increased its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC now owns 102,635 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,144,000 after buying an additional 51,315 shares in the last quarter. 97.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pliant Therapeutics Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -7.85 and a beta of 1.38. The business has a 50-day moving average of $28.05 and a 200 day moving average of $25.12. The company has a current ratio of 14.23, a quick ratio of 14.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, March 9th. The company reported ($0.72) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.70) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $1.97 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.55 million. Pliant Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 1,273.32% and a negative return on equity of 50.75%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. will post -2.67 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Pliant Therapeutics

(Get Rating)

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. Its lead product candidate is PLN-74809, an oral small-molecule dual selective inhibitor of avß6 and avß1 integrins, which is in three Phase 2a trials.