Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) has been given an average recommendation of “Buy” by the nine analysts that are presently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price objective among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $40.57.

Several research firms have recently commented on PLRX. Leerink Partnrs upgraded shares of Pliant Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 target price on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Friday, November 8th. Oppenheimer cut their price target on Pliant Therapeutics from $48.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Leerink Partners started coverage on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, September 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 target price for the company.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of PLRX. Great Point Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 42.4% in the second quarter. Great Point Partners LLC now owns 2,636,864 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,346,000 after acquiring an additional 785,000 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 13.5% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,478,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,827,000 after purchasing an additional 412,486 shares during the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. grew its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 52.0% during the 2nd quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 833,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,957,000 after buying an additional 285,216 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 233.8% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 253,369 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,724,000 after buying an additional 177,469 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 4.6% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,959,088 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,991,000 after buying an additional 173,172 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.30% of the company’s stock.

Pliant Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PLRX opened at $13.53 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 10.26, a quick ratio of 10.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $13.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $12.75. Pliant Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $10.22 and a 52 week high of $19.62. The stock has a market cap of $823.30 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.05 and a beta of 1.08.

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.