Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) Receives Consensus Recommendation of "Hold" from Analysts

Key Points

• Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from thirteen analysts, with a 12-month target price averaging $8.1875.
• Institutional investors own approximately 97.30% of Pliant Therapeutics' stock, with several firms increasing their stakes significantly in recent quarters.
• The company's last quarterly earnings report showed a loss of ($0.71) EPS, missing analysts' expectations of ($0.62) by ($0.09).

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

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a 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 report on Friday, August 8th.

Institutional Trading of Pliant Therapeutics

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cormorant Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $4,050,000. Woodline Partners LP raised its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 1,875.0% during the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 2,514,084 shares of the company's stock worth $3,394,000 after acquiring an additional 2,386,789 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 307.1% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,958,433 shares of the company's stock worth $2,272,000 after acquiring an additional 1,477,336 shares in the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics during the 1st quarter worth $1,642,000. Finally, Peapod Lane Capital LLC raised its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 39.2% during the 2nd quarter. Peapod Lane Capital LLC now owns 893,730 shares of the company's stock worth $1,037,000 after acquiring an additional 251,537 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.30% of the company's stock.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Up 5.6%

Shares of NASDAQ PLRX opened at $1.52 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $1.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1.47. The company has a market capitalization of $93.31 million, a P/E ratio of -0.45 and a beta of 1.43. 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 has a 1 year low of $1.10 and a 1 year high of $16.10.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.71) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.62) by ($0.09). On average, equities research analysts predict that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.64 earnings per share for the current year.

Pliant Therapeutics Company Profile

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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