Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) Receives Average Rating of "Reduce" from Analysts

Key Points

• Pliant Therapeutics has an average analyst rating of "Reduce" from five covering analysts, with two sell ratings, two hold ratings, and one buy rating.
• The average 12-month price target is $3.00, reflecting cautious expectations versus the stock’s recent trading level around $1.22.
• The company reported a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss of ($0.35) EPS versus the consensus estimate of ($0.44), while analysts still expect a full-year loss of $1.51 per share.

Shares of Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX - Get Free Report) have earned an average rating of "Reduce" from the five analysts that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Two 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 12-month price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $3.00.

Several analysts have commented on PLRX shares. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (e+)" rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, May 3rd. Piper Sandler cut their price objective on shares of Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on shares of Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 13th.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of PLRX stock opened at $1.22 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $75.54 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.50 and a beta of 1.20. Pliant Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $1.09 and a 52 week high of $1.95. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $1.29 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1.35.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, March 11th. The company reported ($0.35) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.44) by $0.09. Analysts forecast that Pliant Therapeutics will post -1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

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

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.