Analysts Set Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) Price Target at $3.00

Shares of Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” by the five ratings firms that are currently covering the firm, MarketBeat.com reports. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $3.00.

Several analysts have issued reports on PLRX shares. Wall Street Zen lowered Pliant Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Piper Sandler cut their target price on Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut their target price on Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 13th.

Pliant Therapeutics Trading Down 1.3%

PLRX stock opened at $1.15 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $1.28 and its 200 day moving average is $1.33. The stock has a market cap of $71.21 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.63 and a beta of 1.20. Pliant Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $1.09 and a 1-year high of $1.95.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.36) by $0.04. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Pliant Therapeutics will post -1.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Pliant Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Torno Capital LLC boosted its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 9.4% in the first quarter. Torno Capital LLC now owns 350,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $441,000 after buying an additional 30,000 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 77.2% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 1,852,842 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,335,000 after buying an additional 807,024 shares in the last quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics in the first quarter worth approximately $36,000. Seven Fleet Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $337,000. Finally, XTX Topco Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 16.7% during the fourth quarter. XTX Topco Ltd now owns 545,016 shares of the company’s stock valued at $665,000 after purchasing an additional 78,032 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.30% of the company’s stock.

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).