Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) Receives "Sell (E+)" Rating from Weiss Ratings

Key Points

• Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ: PLRX) has received a "sell (e+)" rating from Weiss Ratings, signaling potential risks for investors.
• Current analysts maintain a consensus rating of "Hold" for the stock, with a price target of $8.19, while some have notably reduced price targets, indicating volatility.
• The company recently reported a loss of ($0.71) EPS for the quarter, missing estimates and suggesting ongoing financial challenges.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "sell (e+)" rating reiterated by equities researchers at Weiss Ratings in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Weiss Ratings reports.

PLRX has been the subject of several other research reports. Citigroup reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Sunday, August 10th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Pliant Therapeutics from $17.00 to $4.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, August 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, twelve have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $8.19.

Pliant Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of PLRX opened at $1.53 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $93.93 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.45 and a beta of 1.40. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $1.57 and a 200-day moving average of $1.47. The company has a current ratio of 12.99, a quick ratio of 12.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. Pliant Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $1.10 and a 52 week high of $16.10.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.71) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.62) by ($0.09). As a group, analysts forecast that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.64 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Jump Financial LLC acquired a new position in Pliant Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP raised its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 139.4% during the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 31,423 shares of the company's stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 18,300 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at $36,000. Catalyst Funds Management Pty Ltd bought a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at $39,000. Finally, Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC raised its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 119.1% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 35,540 shares of the company's stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 19,320 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.

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