Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Analysts

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) has earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the nine brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $40.57.

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 target price on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Friday, September 13th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $38.00 target price on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Leerink Partners started coverage on Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Monday, September 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 price target for the company. Leerink Partnrs raised Pliant Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, August 8th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Summit Securities Group LLC purchased a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth $59,000. SG Americas Securities LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the first quarter worth about $107,000. Atria Investments Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the third quarter worth about $112,000. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C bought a new position in Pliant Therapeutics during the second quarter valued at approximately $126,000. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 65.0% during the 3rd quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 11,694 shares of the company’s stock valued at $131,000 after buying an additional 4,607 shares in the last quarter. 97.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pliant Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ PLRX opened at $14.52 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $882.82 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.70 and a beta of 1.07. Pliant Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $10.22 and a 1-year high of $19.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 14.47 and a quick ratio of 14.47. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $12.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $12.64.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.92) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.85) by ($0.07). On average, equities analysts predict that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

About Pliant Therapeutics

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.