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

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

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PLRX. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 19th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on shares of Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 13th.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PLRX opened at $1.14 on Monday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $1.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $1.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.59 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.62 and a beta of 1.20. Pliant Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $1.09 and a 12-month high of $1.95.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.36) by $0.04. On average, equities analysts predict that Pliant Therapeutics will post -1.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Pliant Therapeutics

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FNY Investment Advisers LLC purchased a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth about $37,000. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the first quarter worth about $36,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the second quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP grew its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 139.4% in the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 31,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 18,300 shares during the last quarter. 97.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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).