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

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) has received an average rating of “Buy” from the nine brokerages that are covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $49.00.

A number of analysts have commented on PLRX shares. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $48.00 price target on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, February 28th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Pliant Therapeutics from $50.00 to $54.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 8.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 200,224 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,472,000 after purchasing an additional 15,578 shares in the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 100.0% in the 3rd quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 112,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,946,000 after purchasing an additional 56,124 shares in the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 97.3% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,529 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 754 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 165.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 244,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,236,000 after purchasing an additional 152,190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 50,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $877,000 after purchasing an additional 1,725 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.30% of the company’s stock.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of PLRX opened at $12.52 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $15.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $15.59. Pliant Therapeutics has a one year low of $12.00 and a one year high of $30.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02, a quick ratio of 17.72 and a current ratio of 17.72. The stock has a market cap of $754.20 million, a P/E ratio of -4.49 and a beta of 1.12.

Pliant Therapeutics Company Profile

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical company, discovers, develops, and commercializes novel therapies for the treatment of fibrosis and related diseases in the United States. The company's lead candidate is bexotegrast, an oral, small-molecule, dual selective inhibitor of avß6 and avß1 integrins, which is in phase 2b trials for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and in phase 2a trial for primary sclerosing cholangitis.