Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) Shares Bought by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) by 300.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 197,251 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 148,039 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned 0.32% of Pliant Therapeutics worth $2,598,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in PLRX. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $108,000. Atria Investments Inc raised its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 18.1% during the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 11,821 shares of the company’s stock worth $156,000 after purchasing an additional 1,812 shares during the period. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,903 shares of the company’s stock valued at $170,000 after purchasing an additional 1,209 shares during the last quarter. Finally, SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 27.2% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 30,729 shares of the company’s stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 6,579 shares during the period. 97.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on PLRX shares. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group reissued a “hold” rating and set a $4.00 target price (down from $43.00) on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Leerink Partnrs lowered Pliant Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating and set a $10.00 price target on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, Pliant Therapeutics currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $13.31.

Pliant Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ PLRX opened at $1.50 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $1.82 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.93. Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $1.10 and a fifty-two week high of $16.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 10.26 and a quick ratio of 10.26. The firm has a market cap of $92.08 million, a P/E ratio of -0.45 and a beta of 1.46.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The company reported ($0.82) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.99) by $0.17. On average, analysts anticipate that Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Pliant Therapeutics Company Profile

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.