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

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) has earned an average recommendation of “Buy” from the eight ratings firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $40.50.

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

Pliant Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:PLRX opened at $11.60 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $13.50 and a 200 day moving average of $13.04. The company has a current ratio of 10.26, a quick ratio of 10.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market cap of $705.86 million, a P/E ratio of -3.47 and a beta of 1.05. Pliant Therapeutics has a 12 month low of $10.22 and a 12 month high of $18.92.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in PLRX. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 17.9% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 96,488 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,037,000 after acquiring an additional 14,662 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 18.1% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 74,113 shares of the company’s stock worth $797,000 after purchasing an additional 11,351 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 1.7% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 305,322 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,282,000 after purchasing an additional 5,152 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 233.8% during the 2nd 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 last quarter. Finally, Ensign Peak Advisors Inc raised its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 39.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc now owns 35,368 shares of the company’s stock valued at $380,000 after buying an additional 9,950 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.30% of the company’s stock.

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.