Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) Announces Earnings Results

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) released its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.36) by $0.04, FiscalAI reports.

Pliant Therapeutics Trading Down 1.6%

Shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock traded down $0.02 on Monday, reaching $1.20. 185,621 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 684,726. Pliant Therapeutics has a one year low of $1.09 and a one year high of $1.95. The company has a market capitalization of $74.30 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.49 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a 50-day moving average of $1.29 and a 200 day moving average of $1.35.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Woodline Partners LP raised its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 1,875.0% in the 1st quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 2,514,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,394,000 after acquiring an additional 2,386,789 shares during the period. Prosight Management LP increased its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 7,493.8% in the fourth quarter. Prosight Management LP now owns 1,555,744 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,898,000 after purchasing an additional 1,535,257 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 307.1% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,958,433 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,272,000 after purchasing an additional 1,477,336 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP increased its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 260.7% in the fourth quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,080,128 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,318,000 after purchasing an additional 780,667 shares during the period. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP increased its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 181.6% in the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 783,255 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,159,000 after purchasing an additional 505,097 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have weighed in on PLRX. Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target on Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Pliant Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Pliant Therapeutics has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $3.00.

About Pliant Therapeutics

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc (NASDAQ: PLRX) is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering and developing novel therapies for fibrotic diseases. Headquartered in Redwood City, California, Pliant applies a precision medicine approach to target integrin-mediated signaling pathways implicated in the development and progression of fibrosis across organ systems.

The company’s lead product candidate, PLN-74809, is an oral small molecule designed to inhibit both αvβ1 and αvβ6 integrins in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and primary sclerosing cholangitis (PSC).