Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the eight brokerages that are currently covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. Seven 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 price objective among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $40.50.

A number of brokerages have issued reports on PLRX. Leerink Partners began coverage on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Monday, September 9th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 target price on the stock. Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Pliant Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $38.00 price target on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, November 8th.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Great Point Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 42.4% in the 2nd quarter. Great Point Partners LLC now owns 2,636,864 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,346,000 after acquiring an additional 785,000 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,402,730 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,725,000 after purchasing an additional 26,610 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 2.4% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,318,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,781,000 after acquiring an additional 31,221 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,039,904 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,657,000 after buying an additional 14,913 shares during the period. Finally, Candriam S.C.A. lifted its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 52.0% during the second quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 833,216 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,957,000 after buying an additional 285,216 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.30% of the company’s stock.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Performance

Pliant Therapeutics stock opened at $13.21 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $803.88 million, a PE ratio of -3.96 and a beta of 1.05. Pliant Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $10.22 and a 12 month high of $19.62. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $14.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a current ratio of 10.26 and a quick ratio of 10.26.

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.