Leerink Partnrs Issues Positive Outlook for PLRX Earnings

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) – Analysts at Leerink Partnrs upped their Q1 2025 EPS estimates for shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note issued to investors on Monday, March 3rd. Leerink Partnrs analyst F. Khurshid now anticipates that the company will post earnings per share of ($1.00) for the quarter, up from their prior forecast of ($1.01). Leerink Partnrs has a “Hold” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for Pliant Therapeutics’ current full-year earnings is ($3.64) per share. Leerink Partnrs also issued estimates for Pliant Therapeutics’ Q2 2025 earnings at ($0.55) EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at ($0.51) EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at ($0.47) EPS, FY2025 earnings at ($2.53) EPS and FY2026 earnings at ($2.14) EPS.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The company reported ($0.82) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.99) by $0.17.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Pliant Therapeutics from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $10.00 target price on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.31.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Up 3.9 %

Shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock opened at $1.58 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 10.26 and a current ratio of 10.26. The stock has a market capitalization of $96.15 million, a PE ratio of -0.47 and a beta of 1.18. Pliant Therapeutics has a 52-week low of $1.26 and a 52-week high of $16.52. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $8.35 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.59.

Insider Transactions at Pliant Therapeutics

In other Pliant Therapeutics news, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 10,230 shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.99, for a total transaction of $112,427.70. Following the transaction, the general counsel now owns 70,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $775,278.56. The trade was a 12.66 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 52,419 shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total transaction of $587,092.80. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 430,517 shares in the company, valued at $4,821,790.40. This represents a 10.85 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 91,855 shares of company stock worth $1,026,628 over the last three months. 6.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in PLRX. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 1,299.0% in the fourth quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 5,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 5,196 shares in the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets purchased a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth $99,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth $108,000. Finally, Atria Investments Inc purchased a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics during the third quarter valued at $112,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.