Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The company reported ($0.43) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.53) by $0.10, Zacks reports.

Pliant Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of PLRX stock traded up $0.07 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $1.60. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,008,620 shares, compared to its average volume of 982,029. Pliant Therapeutics has a fifty-two week low of $1.10 and a fifty-two week high of $15.85. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $1.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $1.51. The company has a quick ratio of 12.99, a current ratio of 12.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.14. The company has a market capitalization of $98.22 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.56 and a beta of 1.41.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in PLRX. Woodline Partners LP lifted its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 1,875.0% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 2,514,084 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,394,000 after purchasing an additional 2,386,789 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 8.8% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 2,130,489 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,153,000 after purchasing an additional 172,056 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 475,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $642,000 after purchasing an additional 29,177 shares in the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada raised its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 222.4% in the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 362,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,000 after purchasing an additional 250,185 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC increased its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 136.6% during the second quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 323,412 shares of the company’s stock valued at $375,000 after acquiring an additional 186,696 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on PLRX shares. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Pliant Therapeutics from $17.00 to $4.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Sunday, August 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued an “underweight” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Friday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $3.93.

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.