Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) Short Interest Up 21.0% in January

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) was the target of a large increase in short interest during the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 3,750,180 shares, an increase of 21.0% from the December 31st total of 3,100,213 shares. Approximately 6.5% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,077,903 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days. Based on an average daily volume of 1,077,903 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 3.5 days. Approximately 6.5% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pliant Therapeutics news, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 89,375 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.28, for a total value of $114,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 505,601 shares in the company, valued at $647,169.28. This trade represents a 15.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 6.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PLRX. Jump Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP increased its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 139.4% during the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 31,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 18,300 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in Pliant Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $36,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Pliant Therapeutics during the third quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at about $39,000. 97.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on PLRX. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 16th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, October 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Pliant Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $3.93.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Performance

PLRX traded down $0.05 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $1.17. The stock had a trading volume of 441,575 shares, compared to its average volume of 995,896. The firm has a market capitalization of $71.59 million, a P/E ratio of -0.41 and a beta of 1.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 13.93 and a current ratio of 13.94. Pliant Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $1.10 and a twelve month high of $12.88. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $1.30 and its 200 day moving average price is $1.49.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.43) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by $0.10. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pliant Therapeutics Company Profile

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc (NASDAQ: PLRX) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing novel therapies for fibrotic diseases. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, Pliant applies a precision medicine approach to target integrin-mediated signaling pathways implicated in the development and progression of fibrosis across organ systems.

The company’s lead product candidate, PLN-74809, is an oral small molecule designed to inhibit both ?v?1 and ?v?6 integrins in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC).