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

Shares of Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) have been given an average rating of “Buy” by the nine analysts that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $40.57.

A number of brokerages have weighed in on PLRX. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $38.00 target price on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Oppenheimer reduced their price target on shares of Pliant Therapeutics from $48.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, September 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 price target for the company. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 price target on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, August 8th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of 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 valued at $58,991,000 after acquiring an additional 173,172 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 13.5% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,478,355 shares of the company’s stock valued at $51,827,000 after acquiring an additional 412,486 shares during the period. Redmile Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 14.9% during the 1st quarter. Redmile Group LLC now owns 3,097,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $46,149,000 after acquiring an additional 400,572 shares during the period. Great Point Partners LLC boosted its stake in 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 during the period. Finally, Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 50.9% in the 1st quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,377,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,522,000 after purchasing an additional 464,860 shares during the period. 97.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Pliant Therapeutics Price Performance

PLRX opened at $15.19 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $12.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $12.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 14.47 and a quick ratio of 14.47. The firm has a market cap of $923.57 million, a PE ratio of -4.94 and a beta of 1.08. Pliant Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $10.22 and a 1 year high of $19.62.

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