Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) Trading Down 5.4% – What’s Next?

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) dropped 5.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $14.34 and last traded at $14.38. Approximately 314,201 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 31% from the average daily volume of 455,462 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.20.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

PLRX has been the subject of several analyst reports. Oppenheimer reduced their price objective on Pliant Therapeutics from $48.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Leerink Partnrs upgraded Pliant Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $40.57.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $863.97 million, a P/E ratio of -4.60 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a fifty day moving average of $12.63 and a 200 day moving average of $12.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a current ratio of 14.47 and a quick ratio of 14.47.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.92) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.85) by ($0.07). On average, equities analysts predict that Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.71 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PLRX. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at $59,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at $107,000. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C acquired a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at $126,000. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 14,489 shares of the company’s stock valued at $216,000 after purchasing an additional 1,203 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 221.2% during the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 27,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $296,000 after purchasing an additional 18,977 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.