3,000,000 Shares in Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. $PLRX Purchased by Cormorant Asset Management LP

Key Points

• Cormorant Asset Management LP invested $4.05 million by purchasing 3,000,000 shares of Pliant Therapeutics, Inc., which represents about 4.89% of the company.
• Pliant Therapeutics recently reported an earnings miss with an EPS of ($0.71), below the consensus estimate of ($0.62).
• Several analysts have updated their ratings on Pliant, with Piper Sandler reducing the target price from $17.00 to $4.00 while the company maintains a consensus rating of "Hold".

Cormorant Asset Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,000,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,050,000. Cormorant Asset Management LP owned 4.89% of Pliant Therapeutics at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of PLRX. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 31.8% in the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 18,931 shares of the company's stock worth $249,000 after acquiring an additional 4,570 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $99,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 9.2% during the 1st quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 110,093 shares of the company's stock valued at $149,000 after purchasing an additional 9,244 shares during the last quarter. Corton Capital Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth $138,000. Finally, Woodline Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 14.0% in the 4th quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 127,295 shares of the company's stock worth $1,676,000 after buying an additional 15,635 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.30% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Sunday, August 10th. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Pliant Therapeutics from $17.00 to $4.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, August 8th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and twelve have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $8.19.

Pliant Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of PLRX stock traded up $0.23 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $1.86. The stock had a trading volume of 3,425,075 shares, compared to its average volume of 865,742. Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. has a one year low of $1.10 and a one year high of $16.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14, a current ratio of 12.99 and a quick ratio of 12.99. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $1.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $114.19 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.55 and a beta of 1.43.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX - Get Free Report) last issued its 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). Equities analysts forecast that Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.64 EPS for the current 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.