Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) Shares Acquired by Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.

Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) by 233.8% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 91,979 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 64,422 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Pliant Therapeutics were worth $1,031,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 50.9% during the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,377,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,522,000 after acquiring an additional 464,860 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 13.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,478,355 shares of the company’s stock worth $51,827,000 after purchasing an additional 412,486 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 4.6% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,959,088 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,991,000 after purchasing an additional 173,172 shares during the period. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC purchased a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,372,000. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 233.8% in 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 period. 97.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Pliant Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Leerink Partners started coverage on Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, September 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on Pliant Therapeutics from $48.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 price target on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Pliant Therapeutics presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.57.

Pliant Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock opened at $15.70 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $954.56 million, a PE ratio of -5.08 and a beta of 1.08. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $12.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $12.67. The company has a quick ratio of 14.47, a current ratio of 14.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $10.22 and a twelve month high of $19.62.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.92) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.85) by ($0.07). Sell-side analysts predict that Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.