Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) Issues Quarterly Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.02 EPS

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) released its earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported ($0.36) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.34) by ($0.02), FiscalAI reports.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Down 1.0%

NASDAQ:PLRX traded down $0.01 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $1.03. The company had a trading volume of 217,077 shares, compared to its average volume of 613,875. The firm has a market cap of $63.78 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.56 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $1.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $1.21. Pliant Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $1.03 and a twelve month high of $1.95.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PLRX has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, July 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $3.00.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Rangeley Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of 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. Algert Global LLC raised its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 17.7% during the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 104,382 shares of the company’s stock worth $154,000 after buying an additional 15,692 shares during the period. Engineers Gate Manager LP raised its stake in 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 buying an additional 18,300 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 42.2% in the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 68,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,000 after acquiring an additional 20,449 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jump Financial LLC bought a new position in Pliant Therapeutics in the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 97.30% of the company’s stock.

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).