Equities Analysts Issue Forecasts for PLRX FY2025 Earnings

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) – Equities researchers at Cantor Fitzgerald issued their FY2025 earnings estimates for Pliant Therapeutics in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, January 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst P. Stavropoulos anticipates that the company will post earnings per share of ($4.46) for the year. The consensus estimate for Pliant Therapeutics’ current full-year earnings is ($3.65) per share.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, November 7th. The company reported ($0.95) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.99) by $0.04.

Separately, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 price target on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Pliant Therapeutics presently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $40.50.

Pliant Therapeutics Price Performance

PLRX stock opened at $10.92 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $13.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $13.08. The company has a market capitalization of $664.53 million, a P/E ratio of -3.27 and a beta of 1.05. Pliant Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $10.22 and a twelve month high of $18.92. The company has a current ratio of 10.26, a quick ratio of 10.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Insider Transactions at Pliant Therapeutics

In other news, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 10,230 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.99, for a total value of $112,427.70. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 70,544 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $775,278.56. This trade represents a 12.66 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 value of $587,092.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 430,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,821,790.40. This trade represents a 10.85 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 91,855 shares of company stock worth $1,026,628. Company insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Great Point Partners LLC grew its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 42.4% during the second quarter. Great Point Partners LLC now owns 2,636,864 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,346,000 after buying an additional 785,000 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew 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 acquiring an additional 26,610 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,318,308 shares of the company’s stock valued at $14,781,000 after purchasing an additional 31,221 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 1.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 1,039,904 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,657,000 after purchasing an additional 14,913 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fernwood Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 3.4% during the third quarter. Fernwood Investment Management LLC now owns 513,136 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,752,000 after purchasing an additional 16,850 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.