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

Shares of Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the fourteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, eleven have issued a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $3.9286.

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

Pliant Therapeutics Trading Up 0.8%

PLRX opened at $1.32 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $81.11 million, a PE ratio of -0.46 and a beta of 1.36. Pliant Therapeutics has a one year low of $1.10 and a one year high of $12.88. 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 business’s 50 day moving average price is $1.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $1.49.

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PLRX. Woodline Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 1,875.0% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 2,514,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,394,000 after purchasing an additional 2,386,789 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 307.1% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,958,433 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,272,000 after buying an additional 1,477,336 shares during the period. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the first quarter worth $1,642,000. Monaco Asset Management SAM purchased a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the second quarter worth $815,000. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP increased its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 181.6% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 783,255 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,159,000 after acquiring an additional 505,097 shares during the period. 97.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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 αvβ1 and αvβ6 integrins in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC).