Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Acquires New Shares in Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund purchased 649,660 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,556,000. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. owned about 1.07% of Pliant Therapeutics at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 2.4% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,318,308 shares of the company's stock worth $14,781,000 after purchasing an additional 31,221 shares during the last quarter. Silverarc Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $17,326,000. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,045,577 shares of the company's stock worth $13,770,000 after acquiring an additional 5,673 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. boosted its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 900,104 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,854,000 after acquiring an additional 66,888 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 20.0% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 547,297 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,206,000 after purchasing an additional 91,131 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.30% of the company's stock.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Up 4.3 %

Pliant Therapeutics stock traded up $0.07 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $1.69. 762,075 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,071,979. Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $1.10 and a 52-week high of $16.52. The business's 50-day moving average price is $1.58 and its 200-day moving average price is $8.26. The company has a quick ratio of 10.26, a current ratio of 10.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market capitalization of $103.74 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.51 and a beta of 1.46.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The company reported ($0.82) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.99) by $0.17. On average, research analysts expect that Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Leerink Partners lowered shares of Pliant Therapeutics from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $2.00 in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs lowered Pliant Therapeutics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $13.31.

Pliant Therapeutics 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.