Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) Given Consensus Rating of "Reduce" by Brokerages

Key Points

• Pliant Therapeutics has a consensus analyst rating of "Reduce" from five covering analysts, with two sells, two holds, and one buy. The average 12-month price target is $3.00.
• The stock was last trading at $1.08, near its 52-week low of $1.05, and the company has a market cap of about $66.87 million. Its shares have also been trading below both the 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Pliant recently reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss, posting EPS of -$0.32 versus estimates of -$0.36. Analysts currently expect the company to post -1.31 EPS for the full fiscal year.

Shares of Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX - Get Free Report) have been given a consensus rating of "Reduce" by the five analysts that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $3.00.

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Pliant Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, July 17th.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ PLRX opened at $1.08 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $66.87 million, a PE ratio of -0.59 and a beta of 1.21. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $1.16 and its 200-day moving average price is $1.23. Pliant Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $1.05 and a 52-week high of $1.95.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.36) by $0.04. On average, analysts forecast that Pliant Therapeutics will post -1.31 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Pliant Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 42.2% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 68,963 shares of the company's stock worth $93,000 after buying an additional 20,449 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 222.4% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 362,702 shares of the company's stock valued at $491,000 after acquiring an additional 250,185 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at approximately $97,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 6.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 475,877 shares of the company's stock valued at $642,000 after acquiring an additional 29,177 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 2,386,789 shares during the last quarter. 97.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Pliant Therapeutics

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc NASDAQ: PLRX is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing novel therapies for fibrotic diseases. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, Pliant applies a precision medicine approach to target integrin-mediated signaling pathways implicated in the development and progression of fibrosis across organ systems.

The company's lead product candidate, PLN-74809, is an oral small molecule designed to inhibit both αvβ1 and αvβ6 integrins in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC).

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