Analysts Set Maplight Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MPLT) Target Price at $34.43

Maplight Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MPLT) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, one has given a hold recommendation, seven have issued a buy recommendation and two have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average twelve-month price objective among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $34.4286.

MPLT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Lifesci Capital upgraded Maplight Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Weiss Ratings initiated coverage on Maplight Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. They set a “sell (e)” rating for the company. Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on Maplight Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, April 8th. They set a “buy” rating and a $37.00 price objective for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Maplight Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 21st. Finally, TD Cowen initiated coverage on Maplight Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. They set a “buy” rating for the company.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider James Woodruff Lillie sold 24,811 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.76, for a total transaction of $713,564.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 243,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,001,622. This represents a 9.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Christopher A. Kroeger sold 118,235 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.19, for a total value of $3,214,809.65. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,394,094 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $37,905,415.86. This trade represents a 7.82% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 509,439 shares of company stock worth $14,339,878 over the last quarter. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Maplight Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in Maplight Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its stake in Maplight Therapeutics by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 39,465 shares of the company’s stock valued at $802,000 after purchasing an additional 3,608 shares during the period. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey acquired a new stake in Maplight Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $70,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund acquired a new stake in Maplight Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $93,000. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Maplight Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $172,000.

Maplight Therapeutics Price Performance

MPLT opened at $27.81 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.19 billion and a P/E ratio of -0.68. Maplight Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $12.24 and a 1-year high of $33.28. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $24.74.

Maplight Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MPLT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported ($1.34) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.91) by ($0.43). As a group, research analysts predict that Maplight Therapeutics will post -4.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Maplight Therapeutics Company Profile

We are a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company focused on improving the lives of patients suffering from debilitating central nervous system, or CNS, disorders. We were founded by globally recognized leaders in psychiatry and neuroscience research to address the lack of circuit-specific pharmacotherapies available for patients. Our discovery platform holds the potential to fill this void by identifying neural circuits causally linked to disease and targeting those circuits for therapeutic modulation.