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

Shares of Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the eight research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $40.50.

Separately, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $38.00 price objective on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, November 8th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 233.8% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 253,369 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,724,000 after purchasing an additional 177,469 shares during the period. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company grew its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 83,483 shares of the company’s stock valued at $897,000 after buying an additional 1,191 shares in the last quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 233.8% during the 3rd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 91,979 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,031,000 after acquiring an additional 64,422 shares during the period. Atria Investments Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the third quarter worth $112,000. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 1.9% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,402,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,725,000 after acquiring an additional 26,610 shares in the last quarter. 97.30% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Pliant Therapeutics Trading Down 8.2 %

Shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock opened at $11.60 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $13.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $13.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 10.26 and a quick ratio of 10.26. The firm has a market cap of $705.86 million, a PE ratio of -3.47 and a beta of 1.05. Pliant Therapeutics has a 1 year low of $10.22 and a 1 year high of $18.92.

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.