Barclays PLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX)

Barclays PLC cut its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX - Free Report) by 75.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 101,823 shares of the company's stock after selling 319,676 shares during the period. Barclays PLC owned approximately 0.17% of Pliant Therapeutics worth $1,340,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 1.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,039,904 shares of the company's stock worth $11,657,000 after purchasing an additional 14,913 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 95,801 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,262,000 after buying an additional 3,822 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 18.1% during the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 108,608 shares of the company's stock worth $1,430,000 after buying an additional 16,634 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 27.2% in the 4th quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 30,729 shares of the company's stock worth $405,000 after acquiring an additional 6,579 shares during the period. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. 97.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on PLRX. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on shares of Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Leerink Partners cut Pliant Therapeutics from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $2.00 in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Leerink Partnrs cut shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $10.00 price objective on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Pliant Therapeutics has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $13.31.

Pliant Therapeutics Trading Up 4.3 %

Shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock opened at $1.69 on Friday. Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1 year low of $1.10 and a 1 year high of $16.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 10.26 and a quick ratio of 10.26. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $1.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.31. The company has a market capitalization of $103.74 million, a P/E ratio of -0.51 and a beta of 1.46.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 3rd. The company reported ($0.82) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.99) by $0.17. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.

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