Barclays PLC Has $1.34 Million Stock Position in Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX)

Barclays PLC decreased its holdings 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 Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 101,823 shares of the company's stock after selling 319,676 shares during the quarter. Barclays PLC owned about 0.17% of Pliant Therapeutics worth $1,340,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 10.3% during the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 12,903 shares of the company's stock worth $170,000 after buying an additional 1,209 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank increased its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 95,700 shares of the company's stock worth $1,260,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc boosted its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 18.1% in the fourth quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 11,821 shares of the company's stock valued at $156,000 after buying an additional 1,812 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 459,384 shares of the company's stock worth $6,050,000 after buying an additional 2,721 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.30% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on PLRX shares. Stifel Nicolaus cut Pliant Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on shares of Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their target price on shares of Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup lowered their price objective on Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $1.50 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs downgraded shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $13.31.

Pliant Therapeutics Price Performance

PLRX stock traded down $0.03 on Friday, hitting $1.44. 209,008 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,071,305. The company has a current ratio of 10.26, a quick ratio of 10.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market cap of $88.09 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.43 and a beta of 1.43. Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $1.10 and a 1-year high of $16.52. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $1.47 and a 200-day moving average of $7.98.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.99) by $0.17. On average, analysts forecast that Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.64 EPS 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.