Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) Price Target Cut to $45.00 by Analysts at Royal Bank of Canada

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) had its price target decreased by investment analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $54.00 to $45.00 in a research note issued on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 235.57% from the stock’s previous close.

PLRX has been the subject of several other reports. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Pliant Therapeutics from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.67.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of PLRX stock opened at $13.41 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $808.89 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.81 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $14.25 and a 200 day moving average of $15.41. Pliant Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $11.21 and a 52 week high of $24.74. The company has a quick ratio of 17.72, a current ratio of 17.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PLRX. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 8.4% in the third quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 200,224 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,472,000 after purchasing an additional 15,578 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 100.0% in the third quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 112,248 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,946,000 after purchasing an additional 56,124 shares during the last quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 97.3% in the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 1,529 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after purchasing an additional 754 shares during the period. Barclays PLC grew its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 165.3% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 244,266 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,236,000 after buying an additional 152,190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund grew its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 3.5% during the third quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 50,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $877,000 after acquiring an additional 1,725 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.30% of the company’s stock.

About Pliant Therapeutics

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. The company's lead candidate is bexotegrast, an oral, small-molecule, dual selective inhibitor of avß6 and avß1 integrins, which is in phase 2b trials for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and in phase 2a trial for primary sclerosing cholangitis.