Analysts Set Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) PT at $8.19

Key Points

• Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. has received a consensus recommendation of "Hold" from thirteen brokerages, with an average 1-year price target set at $8.1875.
• Following a quarterly earnings report that showed a miss on earnings per share, Piper Sandler significantly lowered its price target from $17.00 to $4.00 while maintaining an "overweight" rating.
• The company is experiencing institutional interest, with approximately 97.30% of its stock being owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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

Separately, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on shares of Pliant Therapeutics from $17.00 to $4.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PLRX traded down $0.02 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $1.66. The stock had a trading volume of 813,189 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,043,827. The firm has a market cap of $101.91 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.49 and a beta of 1.42. Pliant Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $1.10 and a twelve month high of $16.10. The company's 50 day moving average price is $1.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $2.40.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX - Get Free Report) last issued 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). Equities analysts forecast that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.64 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Aquatic Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 1,299.0% during the 4th quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 5,596 shares of the company's stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 5,196 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $99,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $108,000. Corton Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $138,000. Finally, ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 31.8% during the 4th quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 18,931 shares of the company's stock valued at $249,000 after purchasing an additional 4,570 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.30% of the company's stock.

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.