Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) Trading Up 0.9% – Time to Buy?

Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX)’s stock price shot up 0.9% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $1.14 and last traded at $1.14. 321,031 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 29% from the average daily volume of 453,508 shares. The stock had previously closed at $1.13.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on PLRX shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Pliant Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 19th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered 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. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on shares of Pliant Therapeutics from $4.00 to $3.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, March 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and a consensus target price of $3.00.

Pliant Therapeutics Trading Up 0.9%

The company has a market capitalization of $70.59 million, a PE ratio of -0.62 and a beta of 1.19. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $1.20 and its two-hundred day moving average is $1.24.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last announced its earnings results on Monday, May 11th. The company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.36) by $0.04. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. will post -1.37 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of PLRX. Invesco Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 42.2% during the first quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 68,963 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,000 after purchasing an additional 20,449 shares during the last quarter. Royal Bank of Canada boosted its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 222.4% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 362,702 shares of the company’s stock valued at $491,000 after purchasing an additional 250,185 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics in the first quarter worth about $97,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 6.5% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 475,877 shares of the company’s stock worth $642,000 after purchasing an additional 29,177 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Woodline Partners LP increased 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 worth $3,394,000 after buying an additional 2,386,789 shares during the period. 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).