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

Shares of Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) have received an average rating of “Reduce” from the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have given a hold recommendation and one has issued a buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $3.9286.

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 16th.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of PLRX opened at $1.32 on Monday. Pliant Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $1.10 and a 52-week high of $12.88. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $1.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $1.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 13.93 and a current ratio of 13.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.11 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.46 and a beta of 1.36.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.43) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.53) by $0.10. Research analysts forecast that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Pliant Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of PLRX. Woodline Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 91.8% during the third quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 4,504,817 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,667,000 after purchasing an additional 2,156,291 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 8.8% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,130,489 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,153,000 after purchasing an additional 172,056 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at approximately $1,642,000. Peapod Lane Capital LLC grew its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 22.7% in the 3rd quarter. Peapod Lane Capital LLC now owns 1,097,028 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,624,000 after buying an additional 203,298 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Monaco Asset Management SAM grew its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 17.1% in the 3rd quarter. Monaco Asset Management SAM now owns 822,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,218,000 after buying an additional 120,300 shares in the last quarter. 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 αvβ1 and αvβ6 integrins in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC).