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

Shares of Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the eleven analysts that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $3.9167.

PLRX has been the topic of several analyst reports. 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 reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, January 22nd.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ:PLRX opened at $1.23 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 13.94 and a quick ratio of 13.93. The firm has a market cap of $75.58 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.43 and a beta of 1.38. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $1.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $1.45. Pliant Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $1.09 and a 1-year high of $3.46.

Insider Transactions at Pliant Therapeutics

In other Pliant Therapeutics news, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 89,375 shares of the 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 505,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $647,169.28. This represents a 15.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Woodline Partners LP boosted its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 1,875.0% during 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 in the last quarter. BML Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,886,000. Prosight Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 7,493.8% during the 4th quarter. Prosight Management LP now owns 1,555,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,898,000 after acquiring an additional 1,535,257 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 307.1% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,958,433 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,272,000 after acquiring an additional 1,477,336 shares during the period. Finally, Monaco Asset Management SAM increased its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 135.7% in the 4th quarter. Monaco Asset Management SAM now owns 1,938,747 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,365,000 after purchasing an additional 1,116,054 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.30% of the company’s stock.

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 αvβ1 and αvβ6 integrins in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC).