Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Brokerages

Shares of Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price objective among analysts that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $40.57.

PLRX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Pliant Therapeutics from $48.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Leerink Partners started coverage on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Monday, September 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 price objective for the company. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Pliant Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $38.00 target price on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, August 8th.

Institutional Trading of Pliant Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 13.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,478,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,827,000 after buying an additional 412,486 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 4.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,959,088 shares of the company’s stock valued at $58,991,000 after purchasing an additional 173,172 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 221.2% in the second quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 27,557 shares of the company’s stock worth $296,000 after purchasing an additional 18,977 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 536.3% in the second quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 45,891 shares of the company’s stock worth $493,000 after purchasing an additional 38,679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at $734,000. Institutional investors own 97.30% of the company’s stock.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Up 1.4 %

Pliant Therapeutics stock opened at $13.53 on Thursday. Pliant Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $10.22 and a 12 month high of $19.62. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $13.18 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.75. The company has a current ratio of 10.26, a quick ratio of 10.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The firm has a market cap of $823.30 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.05 and a beta of 1.08.

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.