Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.06 EPS

Pliant Therapeutics (NASDAQ:PLRX) issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday. The company reported ($0.38) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.44) by $0.06, FiscalAI reports.

Pliant Therapeutics Price Performance

NASDAQ:PLRX traded down $0.06 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $1.33. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 289,701 shares, compared to its average volume of 830,068. The company has a market capitalization of $81.73 million, a P/E ratio of -0.46 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 13.94 and a quick ratio of 13.93. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $1.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $1.43. Pliant Therapeutics has a twelve month low of $1.09 and a twelve month high of $1.95.

Insider Transactions at Pliant Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Bernard Coulie sold 89,375 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $1.28, for a total value of $114,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 505,601 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $647,169.28. This represents a 15.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 6.40% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Pliant Therapeutics

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Woodline Partners LP boosted its position in Pliant Therapeutics by 1,875.0% in the first quarter. Woodline Partners LP now owns 2,514,084 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,394,000 after purchasing an additional 2,386,789 shares during the last quarter. Prosight Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 7,493.8% during the 4th quarter. Prosight Management LP now owns 1,555,744 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,898,000 after buying an additional 1,535,257 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 307.1% in the second quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,958,433 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,272,000 after acquiring an additional 1,477,336 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP grew its holdings in Pliant Therapeutics by 260.7% during the 4th quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 1,080,128 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,318,000 after buying an additional 780,667 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Two Sigma Investments LP grew its stake in Pliant Therapeutics by 181.6% during the third quarter. Two Sigma Investments LP now owns 783,255 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,159,000 after acquiring an additional 505,097 shares in the last quarter. 97.30% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently commented on PLRX shares. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (e+)” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Pliant Therapeutics from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, November 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $4.00.

Pliant Therapeutics Company 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).