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

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) has earned an average rating of “Reduce” from the thirteen research firms that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, ten have assigned a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $3.9286.

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on PLRX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 89,375 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.28, for a total transaction of $114,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 505,601 shares in the company, valued at $647,169.28. This represents a 15.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 8.00% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 42.2% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 68,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,000 after purchasing an additional 20,449 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada grew its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 222.4% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 362,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,000 after buying an additional 250,185 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Pliant Therapeutics during the first quarter worth $97,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 6.5% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 475,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $642,000 after buying an additional 29,177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 2,386,789 shares in the last quarter. 97.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of PLRX stock opened at $1.24 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $76.20 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.43 and a beta of 1.36. Pliant Therapeutics has a 12-month low of $1.10 and a 12-month high of $12.88. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $1.32 and a 200-day moving average of $1.49. The company has a quick ratio of 13.93, a current ratio of 13.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.43) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.53) by $0.10. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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).