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

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the five analysts that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1 year price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $3.00.

PLRX has been the topic of several research reports. Wall Street Zen lowered Pliant Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target 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.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Rangeley Capital LLC grew its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 20.4% during the 2nd quarter. Rangeley Capital LLC now owns 60,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after purchasing an additional 10,220 shares in the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 113,383 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,000 after buying an additional 15,349 shares in the last quarter. Algert Global LLC lifted its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 104,382 shares of the company’s stock worth $154,000 after buying an additional 15,692 shares in the last quarter. Eversept Partners LP boosted its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Eversept Partners LP now owns 842,023 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,027,000 after buying an additional 17,429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP boosted its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 139.4% in the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 31,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 18,300 shares during the last quarter. 97.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Down 0.4%

PLRX opened at $1.17 on Friday. Pliant Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $1.09 and a 52-week high of $1.95. The company has a 50 day moving average of $1.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $1.33. The company has a market cap of $72.14 million, a P/E ratio of -0.63 and a beta of 1.20.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last issued its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.36) by $0.04. Research analysts anticipate that Pliant Therapeutics will post -1.44 earnings per share for the current 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 ?v?1 and ?v?6 integrins in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC).