Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) Stock Price Down 5.4% – What’s Next?

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) fell 5.4% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as low as $14.34 and last traded at $14.38. 314,201 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 31% from the average session volume of 455,462 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.20.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on PLRX. Oppenheimer lowered their target price on shares of Pliant Therapeutics from $48.00 to $45.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Leerink Partners started coverage on Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, September 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 target price on the stock. Leerink Partnrs raised Pliant Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $40.57.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $891.33 million, a PE ratio of -4.92 and a beta of 1.13. The company has a quick ratio of 14.47, a current ratio of 14.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $12.53 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $12.62.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported ($0.92) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.85) by ($0.07). As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.71 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Summit Securities Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $59,000. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the first quarter valued at $107,000. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C purchased a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter valued at $126,000. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 9.1% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 14,489 shares of the company’s stock worth $216,000 after acquiring an additional 1,203 shares during the period. Finally, Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 221.2% in the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 27,557 shares of the company’s stock valued at $296,000 after acquiring an additional 18,977 shares during the period. 97.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.