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

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) has received an average recommendation of “Buy” from the nine brokerages that are covering the stock, MarketBeat reports. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $45.38.

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Pliant Therapeutics from $47.00 to $48.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 7th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Pliant Therapeutics from $45.00 to $44.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $36.00 price objective on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reduced their price objective on Pliant Therapeutics from $54.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 7th.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Performance

NASDAQ PLRX opened at $14.35 on Friday. Pliant Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $10.29 and a fifty-two week high of $20.23. The company has a current ratio of 16.12, a quick ratio of 16.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.07. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $11.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.06.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 6th. The company reported ($0.78) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.76) by ($0.02). Research analysts forecast that Pliant Therapeutics will post -3.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Pliant Therapeutics news, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 7,656 shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.56, for a total value of $88,503.36. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 94,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,087,148.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Pliant Therapeutics news, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 7,656 shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.56, for a total value of $88,503.36. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now owns 94,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,087,148.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 38,710 shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $11.56, for a total value of $447,487.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 482,936 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,582,740.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 69,596 shares of company stock valued at $804,530. Corporate insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pliant Therapeutics

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. First Light Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 22.4% in the fourth quarter. First Light Asset Management LLC now owns 3,591,776 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,047,000 after acquiring an additional 658,516 shares during the period. Mass General Brigham Inc bought a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the first quarter worth $4,301,000. Capital International Investors grew its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 50.9% in the first quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 1,377,327 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,522,000 after acquiring an additional 464,860 shares during the period. Granahan Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 22.5% in the fourth quarter. Granahan Investment Management LLC now owns 1,150,766 shares of the company’s stock worth $20,840,000 after acquiring an additional 211,557 shares during the period. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 4.6% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 3,959,088 shares of the company’s stock worth $58,991,000 after acquiring an additional 173,172 shares during the period. 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.