Maplight Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MPLT) Stock Price Up 11.8% – Still a Buy?

Maplight Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MPLT)’s stock price rose 11.8% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $30.77 and last traded at $30.6350. Approximately 32,696 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 86% from the average daily volume of 231,701 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.40.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

MPLT has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Maplight Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. TD Cowen initiated coverage on Maplight Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Weiss Ratings initiated coverage on Maplight Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. They set a “sell (e)” rating for the company. HC Wainwright initiated coverage on Maplight Therapeutics in a report on Monday, May 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $45.00 price target for the company. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group initiated coverage on Maplight Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, March 19th. They set a “buy” rating and a $35.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $34.43.

Maplight Therapeutics Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.28 billion and a P/E ratio of -0.76. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.83.

Maplight Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MPLT) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, March 26th. The company reported ($2.47) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.05) by ($1.42). On average, research analysts forecast that Maplight Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.96 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Maplight Therapeutics

In other news, CFO Vishwas Setia sold 10,564 shares of Maplight Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.24, for a total transaction of $298,327.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 356,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,060,669.44. This trade represents a 2.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Christopher A. Kroeger sold 23,701 shares of Maplight Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.76, for a total value of $681,640.76. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,580,820 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $45,464,383.20. This represents a 1.48% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders purchased 39,124 shares of company stock worth $693,846 and sold 336,533 shares worth $9,373,336. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MPLT. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in Maplight Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $53,000. Blue Owl Capital Holdings LP acquired a new position in Maplight Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $5,745,000. Geode Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Maplight Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $6,835,000. Seven Grand Managers LLC acquired a new position in Maplight Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,756,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. acquired a new position in Maplight Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,026,000.

About Maplight Therapeutics

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.