Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) Receives Consensus Rating of “Reduce” from Analysts

Shares of Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the thirteen analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $3.9286.

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, November 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed an “underweight” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, October 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd.

Pliant Therapeutics Price Performance

PLRX opened at $1.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 13.94 and a quick ratio of 13.93. The stock has a market capitalization of $76.20 million, a P/E ratio of -0.43 and a beta of 1.36. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $1.32 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1.49. Pliant Therapeutics has a one year low of $1.10 and a one year high of $12.88.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, November 6th. The company reported ($0.43) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.53) by $0.10. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pliant Therapeutics news, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 89,375 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.28, for a total transaction of $114,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 505,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $647,169.28. This trade represents a 15.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 8.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Peapod Lane Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 39.2% during the second quarter. Peapod Lane Capital LLC now owns 893,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,037,000 after acquiring an additional 251,537 shares in the last quarter. Monaco Asset Management SAM acquired a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $815,000. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $39,000. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 119.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 35,540 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 19,320 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,130,489 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,153,000 after purchasing an additional 172,056 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.30% of the company’s stock.

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).