Pliant Therapeutics’ (PLRX) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reissued their buy rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) in a report released on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a $38.00 price objective on the stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Pliant Therapeutics from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of Pliant Therapeutics from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Pliant Therapeutics from $54.00 to $45.00 and set an outperform rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a buy rating and issued a $36.00 target price on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of Buy and an average price target of $45.38.

Pliant Therapeutics Trading Down 0.7 %

NASDAQ PLRX opened at $12.36 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07, a current ratio of 16.12 and a quick ratio of 16.12. The company’s 50 day moving average is $12.17 and its 200-day moving average is $14.35. Pliant Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $10.29 and a 12-month high of $20.23.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.78) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.76) by ($0.02). Equities research analysts predict that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Keith Lamont Cummings sold 10,911 shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.56, for a total transaction of $126,131.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,261,249.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Pliant Therapeutics news, CFO Keith Lamont Cummings sold 10,911 shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.56, for a total transaction of $126,131.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 282,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,261,249.40. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 38,710 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.56, for a total transaction of $447,487.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 482,936 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,582,740.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 69,596 shares of company stock valued at $804,530 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. First Light Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. First Light Asset Management LLC now owns 3,591,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,047,000 after purchasing an additional 658,516 shares during the period. Mass General Brigham Inc bought a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the first quarter worth approximately $4,301,000. Granahan Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 22.5% in the fourth quarter. Granahan Investment Management LLC now owns 1,150,766 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,840,000 after buying an additional 211,557 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,579,572 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,606,000 after buying an additional 62,173 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 6.1% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,945,312 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,072,000 after buying an additional 168,454 shares during the last quarter. 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.