Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) Receives $3.00 Average Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) have received an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the five analysts that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $3.00.

Several brokerages have issued reports on PLRX. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 13th.

Insider Transactions at Pliant Therapeutics

In other Pliant Therapeutics news, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 89,375 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.28, for a total transaction of $114,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 505,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $647,169.28. The trade was a 15.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PLRX. Woodline Partners LP raised its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 1,875.0% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 2,514,084 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,394,000 after buying an additional 2,386,789 shares during the period. BML Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth about $1,886,000. Prosight Management LP raised its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 7,493.8% in the fourth quarter. Prosight Management LP now owns 1,555,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,898,000 after buying an additional 1,535,257 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 307.1% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,958,433 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,272,000 after buying an additional 1,477,336 shares during the period. Finally, Monaco Asset Management SAM raised its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 135.7% in the fourth quarter. Monaco Asset Management SAM now owns 1,938,747 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,365,000 after buying an additional 1,116,054 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.30% of the company’s stock.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ PLRX opened at $1.33 on Wednesday. Pliant Therapeutics has a one year low of $1.09 and a one year high of $1.95. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $1.28 and a 200 day moving average of $1.38. The company has a market capitalization of $82.35 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.55 and a beta of 1.23.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 11th. The company reported ($0.35) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by $0.09. On average, equities analysts predict that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Pliant Therapeutics

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).