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

Shares of Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) have been given a consensus rating of “Reduce” by the four brokerages that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $3.00.

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on PLRX. Wall Street Zen lowered Pliant Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Friday, July 17th.

Pliant Therapeutics Price Performance

Pliant Therapeutics stock opened at $1.17 on Friday. Pliant Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $1.02 and a 12-month high of $1.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $72.45 million, a PE ratio of -0.79 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1.19.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.36) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.34) by ($0.02). On average, analysts forecast that Pliant Therapeutics will post -1.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Pliant Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tang Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Tang Capital Management LLC now owns 6,143,132 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,495,000 after buying an additional 139,686 shares in the last quarter. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at $6,281,000. Woodline Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 91.8% during the 3rd quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 4,504,817 shares of the company’s stock valued at $6,667,000 after acquiring an additional 2,156,291 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 8.8% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,130,489 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,153,000 after acquiring an additional 172,056 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Monaco Asset Management SAM boosted its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 135.7% during the 4th quarter. Monaco Asset Management SAM now owns 1,938,747 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,365,000 after acquiring an additional 1,116,054 shares in the last quarter. 97.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).