Analysts’ Weekly Ratings Changes for Pliant Therapeutics (PLRX)

Several brokerages have updated their recommendations and price targets on shares of Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ: PLRX) in the last few weeks:

• 1/24/2023 – Pliant Therapeutics had its price target raised by analysts at SVB Leerink LLC from $33.00 to $45.00. They now have an “outperform” rating on the stock.
• 1/24/2023 – Pliant Therapeutics had its price target raised by analysts at Citigroup Inc. from $36.00 to $55.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 1/23/2023 – Pliant Therapeutics had its price target raised by analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald from $40.00 to $52.00. They now have an “overweight” rating on the stock.
• 1/23/2023 – Pliant Therapeutics had its price target raised by analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $40.00 to $45.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.
• 1/23/2023 – Pliant Therapeutics had its price target raised by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $42.00 to $51.00.
• 12/13/2022 – Pliant Therapeutics is now covered by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus. They set a “buy” rating and a $33.00 price target on the stock.
• 12/7/2022 – Pliant Therapeutics is now covered by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.. They set an “overweight” rating and a $42.00 price target on the stock.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Up 2.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ PLRX traded up $0.79 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $33.73. The stock had a trading volume of 2,323,797 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,612,569. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $19.82 and a two-hundred day moving average of $20.51. The company has a market capitalization of $1.64 billion, a PE ratio of -11.51 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.03, a current ratio of 13.99 and a quick ratio of 13.99. Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. has a 12 month low of $3.96 and a 12 month high of $36.50.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, November 8th. The company reported ($0.65) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.74) by $0.09. Pliant Therapeutics had a negative net margin of 1,160.53% and a negative return on equity of 52.61%. The business had revenue of $1.48 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.26 million. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. will post -2.89 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Pliant Therapeutics

In other Pliant Therapeutics news, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 34,212 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.10, for a total value of $653,449.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 93,812 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,791,809.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Pliant Therapeutics news, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 2,928 shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.38, for a total value of $56,744.64. Following the sale, the general counsel now owns 5,947 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $115,252.86. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 34,212 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.10, for a total transaction of $653,449.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 93,812 shares in the company, valued at $1,791,809.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 97,389 shares of company stock valued at $1,863,850. 6.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Jennison Associates LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at $36,369,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD bought a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,734,000. VR Adviser LLC purchased a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at about $22,561,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 51.9% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,599,324 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,410,000 after purchasing an additional 546,638 shares during the period. Finally, BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 54.5% in the third quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 1,369,120 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,601,000 after purchasing an additional 483,034 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.52% of the company’s stock.

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. Its lead product candidate is PLN-74809, an oral small-molecule dual selective inhibitor of avß6 and avß1 integrins, which is in three Phase 2a trials.