Redmile Group LLC Trims Stake in Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. $PLRX

Redmile Group LLC lessened its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) by 52.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 772,126 shares of the company’s stock after selling 844,102 shares during the period. Redmile Group LLC owned approximately 1.25% of Pliant Therapeutics worth $973,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Rangeley Capital LLC raised its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 20.4% in the 2nd quarter. Rangeley Capital LLC now owns 60,220 shares of the company’s stock valued at $70,000 after buying an additional 10,220 shares during the period. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 113,383 shares of the company’s stock valued at $138,000 after acquiring an additional 15,349 shares during the period. Algert Global LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 17.7% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 104,382 shares of the company’s stock worth $154,000 after acquiring an additional 15,692 shares during the last quarter. Eversept Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Eversept Partners LP now owns 842,023 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,027,000 after acquiring an additional 17,429 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Engineers Gate Manager LP boosted its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 139.4% during the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 31,423 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 18,300 shares during the period. 97.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on PLRX. Wall Street Zen upgraded Pliant Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Friday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $3.00.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Performance

Shares of PLRX stock opened at $1.07 on Wednesday. Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $1.05 and a fifty-two week high of $1.95. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $1.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $1.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $66.25 million, a P/E ratio of -0.58 and a beta of 1.21.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last released its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.36) by $0.04. On average, research analysts forecast that Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.31 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Pliant Therapeutics Profile

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).