Brokerages Set Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) Target Price at $40.57

Shares of Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the nine research firms that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $40.57.

Several research analysts have commented on the company. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Pliant Therapeutics from $48.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Pliant Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Leerink Partners started coverage on Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, September 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 target price on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 target price on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, November 8th.

Institutional Trading of Pliant Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PLRX. Great Point Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 42.4% in the 2nd quarter. Great Point Partners LLC now owns 2,636,864 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,346,000 after purchasing an additional 785,000 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $51,827,000 after purchasing an additional 412,486 shares in the last quarter. Candriam S.C.A. boosted its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 52.0% in the 2nd quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 833,216 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,957,000 after purchasing an additional 285,216 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 177,469 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 4.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 173,172 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.30% of the company’s stock.

Pliant Therapeutics Trading Up 2.0 %

PLRX opened at $13.80 on Thursday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $13.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $12.75. The company has a market capitalization of $839.73 million, a P/E ratio of -4.13 and a beta of 1.08. Pliant Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $10.22 and a 52 week high of $19.62. The company has a quick ratio of 10.26, a current ratio of 10.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

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.