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

Key Points

• Analysts have a consensus rating of "Reduce" on Pliant Therapeutics (5 brokers: 2 sell, 2 hold, 1 buy) with an average 12‑month target price of $3.00.
• CEO Bernard Coulie sold 89,375 shares at $1.28 on Jan 20, cutting his stake by about 15.02%, and corporate insiders now own 6.40% of the company.
• The stock trades near $1.30 with a market cap of roughly $80.5M; Pliant reported Q EPS of ($0.35) (beating the ($0.44) estimate) but analysts forecast a full‑year EPS of -3.64.

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

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price objective on Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 12th.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 89,375 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $1.28, for a total transaction of $114,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 505,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $647,169.28. This trade represents a 15.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Tang Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Tang Capital Management LLC now owns 6,143,132 shares of the company's stock valued at $7,495,000 after buying an additional 139,686 shares in the last quarter. Woodline Partners LP raised its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 91.8% during the third quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 4,504,817 shares of the company's stock valued at $6,667,000 after buying an additional 2,156,291 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 8.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,130,489 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,153,000 after buying an additional 172,056 shares in the last quarter. Monaco Asset Management SAM raised its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 135.7% during the fourth quarter. Monaco Asset Management SAM now owns 1,938,747 shares of the company's stock valued at $2,365,000 after buying an additional 1,116,054 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prosight Management LP raised its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 7,493.8% during the fourth quarter. Prosight Management LP now owns 1,555,744 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,898,000 after buying an additional 1,535,257 shares in the last quarter. 97.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Pliant Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock opened at $1.30 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $80.50 million, a PE ratio of -0.53 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $1.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1.38. Pliant Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $1.09 and a 12 month high of $1.95.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 11th. The company reported ($0.35) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by $0.09. Analysts expect that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pliant Therapeutics Company Profile

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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