Cormorant Asset Management LP Invests $4.05 Million in Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. $PLRX

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 acquired a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 3,000,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,050,000. Cormorant Asset Management LP owned about 4.89% of Pliant Therapeutics as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Federated Hermes Inc. raised its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 1,557.6% during the first quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 59,209 shares of the company's stock worth $80,000 after purchasing an additional 55,637 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 42.2% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 68,963 shares of the company's stock worth $93,000 after purchasing an additional 20,449 shares during the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Pliant Therapeutics during the first quarter worth $97,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth $99,000. Finally, Corton Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth $138,000. 97.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Pliant Therapeutics Trading Down 2.0%

PLRX stock traded down $0.04 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $1.70. 207,311 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,663,264. The business's 50 day moving average price is $1.52 and its 200-day moving average price is $1.53. Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $1.10 and a 52-week 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 firm has a market capitalization of $104.06 million, a PE ratio of -0.50 and a beta of 1.43.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.71) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.62) by ($0.09). As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on PLRX shares. Citigroup reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Sunday, August 10th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Pliant Therapeutics from $17.00 to $4.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company 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, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $8.19.

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.