Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. Invests $14.76 Million in Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX)

Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. purchased a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 1,120,803 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,761,000. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. owned 1.84% of Pliant Therapeutics at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in PLRX. Silverarc Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Pliant Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $17,326,000. Deutsche Bank AG increased its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 66.3% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,551,865 shares of the company's stock worth $33,608,000 after purchasing an additional 1,017,500 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. acquired a new position in Pliant Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $8,556,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 300.8% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 197,251 shares of the company's stock worth $2,598,000 after purchasing an additional 148,039 shares during the period. Finally, Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP grew its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP now owns 3,197,050 shares of the company's stock worth $42,105,000 after buying an additional 92,564 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.30% of the company's stock.

Pliant Therapeutics Price Performance

PLRX traded down $0.05 on Monday, reaching $1.29. The stock had a trading volume of 511,950 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,098,907. 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 company has a market capitalization of $79.19 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.39 and a beta of 1.43. Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $1.10 and a fifty-two week high of $16.10. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $1.43 and a 200-day moving average of $6.87.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on PLRX. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Pliant Therapeutics from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. HC Wainwright restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Leerink Partners downgraded Pliant Therapeutics from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating and reduced their target price for the company from $33.00 to $2.00 in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, March 4th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price objective on Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $13.31.

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.