Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) Given Average Rating of “Reduce” by Brokerages

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the four analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation and one has given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $3.00.

Several research firms recently commented on PLRX. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, July 17th.

Pliant Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ PLRX opened at $1.10 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $68.11 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.74 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $1.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $1.20. Pliant Therapeutics has a one year low of $1.02 and a one year high of $1.95.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.36) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.34) by ($0.02). On average, equities analysts anticipate that Pliant Therapeutics will post -1.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PLRX. Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in Pliant Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP grew its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 139.4% during the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 31,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 18,300 shares in the last quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the second quarter worth $36,000. Finally, HRT Financial LP acquired a new position in Pliant Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $39,000. 97.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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).