Northern Trust Corp Acquires 53,584 Shares of Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX)

Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) by 10.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 555,600 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 53,584 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp owned about 0.91% of Pliant Therapeutics worth $7,317,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Silverarc Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Pliant Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $17,326,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth approximately $8,556,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 300.8% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 197,251 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,598,000 after buying an additional 148,039 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 20.0% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 547,297 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,206,000 after purchasing an additional 91,131 shares during the period. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. raised its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 900,104 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,854,000 after acquiring an additional 66,888 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Leerink Partners lowered Pliant Therapeutics from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $2.00 in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $4.00 price target (down from $43.00) on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $1.50 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. downgraded Pliant Therapeutics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.31.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Down 2.2%

Pliant Therapeutics stock opened at $1.35 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $1.45 and its two-hundred day moving average is $7.26. The stock has a market cap of $82.87 million, a PE ratio of -0.40 and a beta of 1.43. Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $1.10 and a 1-year high of $16.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 10.26 and a quick ratio of 10.26.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 3rd. The company reported ($0.82) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.99) by $0.17. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.64 EPS 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.