Rice Hall James & Associates LLC Purchases 29,583 Shares of Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX)

Rice Hall James & Associates LLC raised its position in Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:PLRX) by 23.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 157,217 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 29,583 shares during the period. Rice Hall James & Associates LLC’s holdings in Pliant Therapeutics were worth $1,762,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 65.0% during the third quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 11,694 shares of the company’s stock worth $131,000 after acquiring an additional 4,607 shares during the last quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 34.7% during the third quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 91,974 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,031,000 after acquiring an additional 23,685 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC raised its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 312.5% during the second quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 69,842 shares of the company’s stock worth $751,000 after acquiring an additional 52,912 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics by 1.4% during the second quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 83,483 shares of the company’s stock worth $897,000 after acquiring an additional 1,191 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C bought a new position in shares of Pliant Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $126,000. 97.30% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

PLRX has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Leerink Partners initiated coverage on Pliant Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, September 9th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $33.00 price objective for the company. Leerink Partnrs raised Pliant Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 target price on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 target price on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Pliant Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Pliant Therapeutics has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $40.57.

Pliant Therapeutics Trading Up 3.2 %

Shares of Pliant Therapeutics stock opened at $14.52 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08, a quick ratio of 14.47 and a current ratio of 14.47. Pliant Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $10.22 and a 52 week high of $19.62. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $12.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $12.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $882.82 million, a PE ratio of -4.70 and a beta of 1.13.

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

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.