Weekly Research Analysts’ Ratings Changes for Pliant Therapeutics (PLRX)

A number of research firms have changed their ratings and price targets for Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ: PLRX):

• 3/4/2025 – Pliant Therapeutics had its price target lowered by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from $4.00 to $3.00. They now have a “sector perform” rating on the stock.
• 3/4/2025 – Pliant Therapeutics had its price target lowered by analysts at Citigroup Inc. from $4.00 to $1.50. They now have a “neutral” rating on the stock.
• 3/4/2025 – Pliant Therapeutics had its “neutral” rating reaffirmed by analysts at HC Wainwright.
• 3/4/2025 – Pliant Therapeutics had its “neutral” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald.
• 3/4/2025 – Pliant Therapeutics had its “hold” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Needham & Company LLC. They now have a $10.00 price target on the stock.
• 3/4/2025 – Pliant Therapeutics had its price target lowered by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from $4.00 to $3.00. They now have an “equal weight” rating on the stock.
• 3/3/2025 – Pliant Therapeutics was downgraded by analysts at Leerink Partners from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating. They now have a $2.00 price target on the stock, down previously from $33.00.
• 3/3/2025 – Pliant Therapeutics was downgraded by analysts at Leerink Partnrs from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating.
• 3/3/2025 – Pliant Therapeutics was downgraded by analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating.
• 2/10/2025 – Pliant Therapeutics was downgraded by analysts at Royal Bank of Canada from an “outperform” rating to a “sector perform” rating. They now have a $4.00 price target on the stock, down previously from $45.00.
• 2/10/2025 – Pliant Therapeutics was downgraded by analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co. from an “overweight” rating to a “neutral” rating.
• 2/10/2025 – Pliant Therapeutics was downgraded by analysts at Citigroup Inc. from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating. They now have a $4.00 price target on the stock, down previously from $40.00.
• 2/10/2025 – Pliant Therapeutics was downgraded by analysts at HC Wainwright from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating.
• 2/10/2025 – Pliant Therapeutics had its “market perform” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Oppenheimer Holdings Inc..
• 2/10/2025 – Pliant Therapeutics had its “hold” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Canaccord Genuity Group Inc.. They now have a $4.00 price target on the stock, down previously from $43.00.
• 2/10/2025 – Pliant Therapeutics was downgraded by analysts at Wells Fargo & Company from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating. They now have a $4.00 price target on the stock, down previously from $41.00.
• 2/10/2025 – Pliant Therapeutics had its price target lowered by analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $38.00 to $10.00. They now have a “buy” rating on the stock.

Pliant Therapeutics Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ:PLRX opened at $1.54 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $6.94 and a 200 day moving average of $11.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 10.26 and a current ratio of 10.26. Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52-week low of $1.26 and a 52-week high of $16.52. The firm has a market capitalization of $94.30 million, a PE ratio of -0.46 and a beta of 1.18.

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 3rd. The company reported ($0.82) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.99) by $0.17. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.64 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Pliant Therapeutics

In other Pliant Therapeutics news, General Counsel Mike Ouimette sold 13,270 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total transaction of $148,624.00. Following the completion of the sale, the general counsel now directly owns 80,774 shares in the company, valued at $904,668.80. This represents a 14.11 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Hans Hull sold 15,936 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $11.20, for a total transaction of $178,483.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 211,558 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,369,449.60. The trade was a 7.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 91,855 shares of company stock worth $1,026,628 over the last three months. Company insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Pliant Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PLRX. Silverarc Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Pliant Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth about $17,326,000. Frazier Life Sciences Management L.P. bought a new position in Pliant Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth about $14,761,000. Deutsche Bank AG raised its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 66.3% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 2,551,865 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,608,000 after buying an additional 1,017,500 shares in the last quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. bought a new position in Pliant Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth about $8,556,000. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 300.8% in the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 197,251 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,598,000 after buying an additional 148,039 shares in the last quarter. 97.30% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.