Granahan Investment Management LLC Has $6.94 Million Stock Holdings in Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX)

Granahan Investment Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) by 28.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 527,147 shares of the company’s stock after selling 211,105 shares during the period. Granahan Investment Management LLC owned about 0.87% of Pliant Therapeutics worth $6,943,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Pliant Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 1,299.0% during the 4th quarter. Aquatic Capital Management LLC now owns 5,596 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after buying an additional 5,196 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $99,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $108,000. Finally, Corton Capital Inc. bought a new stake in Pliant Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $138,000. 97.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on PLRX. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating and issued a $10.00 target price on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $1.50 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 4th. Canaccord Genuity Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $4.00 price objective (down previously from $43.00) on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Monday, February 10th. Leerink Partnrs downgraded Pliant Therapeutics from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $13.31.

Pliant Therapeutics Trading Down 3.4 %

PLRX stock opened at $1.41 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $1.47 and a 200-day moving average of $7.89. The company has a market cap of $86.55 million, a P/E ratio of -0.42 and a beta of 1.43. Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $1.10 and a twelve month high of $16.52. The company has a quick ratio of 10.26, a current ratio of 10.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last released its earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The company reported ($0.82) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.99) by $0.17. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.64 EPS for the current year.

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.