Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) Receives $8.19 Average PT from Analysts

Key Points

• Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. has received an average recommendation of "Hold" from thirteen research firms, with twelve holding this rating and one issuing a buy rating.
• Recently, Piper Sandler drastically lowered its target price for Pliant from $17.00 to $4.00, while Citigroup maintained a "neutral" rating on the stock.
• The company's stock is currently trading around $1.64, significantly down from its 52-week high of $16.10 amidst disappointing earnings results.

Shares of Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Hold" from the thirteen brokerages that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $8.1875.

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Sunday, August 10th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on shares of Pliant Therapeutics from $17.00 to $4.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 8th.

Pliant Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of PLRX stock traded up $0.23 on Tuesday, hitting $1.86. 3,425,075 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 865,742. The firm has a market cap of $114.19 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.55 and a beta of 1.43. Pliant Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $1.10 and a 52 week high of $16.10. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $1.55. 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.71) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.62) by ($0.09). As a group, equities research analysts predict that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP increased its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Paradigm Biocapital Advisors LP now owns 3,197,050 shares of the company's stock worth $42,105,000 after purchasing an additional 92,564 shares during the last quarter. Cormorant Asset Management LP bought a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics in the first quarter worth $4,050,000. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 1,017,500 shares during the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP lifted its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 1,875.0% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 2,514,084 shares of the company's stock worth $3,394,000 after buying an additional 2,386,789 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 307.1% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,958,433 shares of the company's stock worth $2,272,000 after buying an additional 1,477,336 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.30% of the company's stock.

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.