Allostery Investments LP Invests $596,000 in Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. $PLRX

Key Points

• Allostery Investments LP made a new investment of $596,000 in Pliant Therapeutics, acquiring 441,686 shares, which represents 0.9% of its portfolio and positions PLRX as its 26th largest holding.
• Several institutional investors have increased their stakes in Pliant Therapeutics, including Dimensional Fund Advisors LP, which raised its holdings by 20%, and Aquatic Capital Management LLC, which increased by an impressive 1,299%.
• Pliant Therapeutics recently reported a quarterly EPS of ($0.71), missing estimates by $0.09, with analysts forecasting it will report an EPS of -3.64 for the current fiscal year.

Allostery Investments LP acquired a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 441,686 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $596,000. Pliant Therapeutics comprises 0.9% of Allostery Investments LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Allostery Investments LP owned 0.72% of Pliant Therapeutics at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in PLRX. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP increased its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP now owns 3,197,050 shares of the company's stock valued at $42,105,000 after acquiring an additional 92,564 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 66.3% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,551,865 shares of the company's stock worth $33,608,000 after buying an additional 1,017,500 shares during the last quarter. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $14,761,000. Peapod Lane Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the first quarter worth about $867,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 555,600 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,317,000 after acquiring an additional 53,584 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.30% of the company's stock.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of PLRX stock traded down $0.17 on Monday, hitting $1.70. 399,713 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,668,546. Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. has a 1-year low of $1.10 and a 1-year high of $16.10. The company has a market capitalization of $104.06 million, a PE ratio of -0.50 and a beta of 1.43. The company's fifty day moving average is $1.51 and its 200 day moving average is $1.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 12.99 and a quick ratio of 12.99.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.71) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.62) by ($0.09). On average, equities research analysts predict that Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PLRX has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Sunday, August 10th. Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Pliant Therapeutics from $17.00 to $4.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $8.19.

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.