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

Shares of Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the nine ratings firms that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $40.57.

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on PLRX shares. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Leerink Partners assumed coverage on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, September 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $38.00 target price on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Leerink Partnrs raised shares of Pliant Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th.

Pliant Therapeutics Price Performance

PLRX opened at $15.51 on Thursday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $13.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 10.26 and a current ratio of 10.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $943.85 million, a PE ratio of -4.64 and a beta of 1.08. Pliant Therapeutics has a 52 week low of $10.22 and a 52 week high of $19.62.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $59,000. Atria Investments Inc bought a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the third quarter valued at about $112,000. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C acquired a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $126,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 65.0% during the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 11,694 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,000 after buying an additional 4,607 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $145,000. 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.