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

Shares of Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the four research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has issued a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $3.00.

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on PLRX shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Pliant Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Friday, July 17th.

Institutional Trading of Pliant Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Jump Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth about $30,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in Pliant Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at about $32,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 18,300 shares during the period. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics during the second quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, HRT Financial LP acquired a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $39,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.30% of the company’s stock.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PLRX opened at $1.10 on Tuesday. Pliant Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $1.02 and a 52-week high of $1.95. The company has a market capitalization of $68.11 million, a P/E ratio of -0.74 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $1.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $1.20.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.36) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.34) by ($0.02). As a group, equities analysts forecast that Pliant Therapeutics will post -1.36 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).