Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) Given Average Recommendation of “Reduce” by Analysts

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) has received a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the five brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $3.00.

PLRX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group decreased 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. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 12th.

Pliant Therapeutics Trading Down 4.9%

Pliant Therapeutics stock opened at $1.17 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1.40. Pliant Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $1.09 and a 1-year high of $1.95. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.45 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.48 and a beta of 1.32.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, March 11th. The company reported ($0.35) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by $0.09. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.64 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Pliant Therapeutics news, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 89,375 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.28, for a total value of $114,400.00. Following 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 8.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Pliant Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP raised its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 139.4% in the second quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 31,423 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 18,300 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at approximately $36,000. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in Pliant Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors own 97.30% of the company’s stock.

About Pliant Therapeutics

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).