Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) Shares Gap Up to $13.67

Shares of Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $13.67, but opened at $14.32. Pliant Therapeutics shares last traded at $13.89, with a volume of 264,889 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PLRX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reduced their target price on Pliant Therapeutics from $54.00 to $45.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and issued a $36.00 target price on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Pliant Therapeutics from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 7th. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Pliant Therapeutics from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a "buy" rating and set a $38.00 target price on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $45.67.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Performance

The business's fifty day moving average price is $14.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $15.41. The company has a quick ratio of 16.12, a current ratio of 16.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07.

Institutional Trading of Pliant Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. First Light Asset Management LLC raised its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 22.4% in the 4th quarter. First Light Asset Management LLC now owns 3,591,776 shares of the company's stock worth $65,047,000 after purchasing an additional 658,516 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 13.5% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,478,355 shares of the company's stock worth $51,827,000 after purchasing an additional 412,486 shares during the last quarter. Rhenman & Partners Asset Management AB bought a new position in Pliant Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter worth about $5,733,000. Mass General Brigham Inc bought a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the first quarter valued at approximately $4,301,000. Finally, UBS Group AG increased its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 8,855.2% during the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 270,804 shares of the company's stock worth $4,696,000 after purchasing an additional 267,780 shares during the period. 97.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.

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