Maplight Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MPLT) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume on Analyst Upgrade

Maplight Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MPLT) saw strong trading volume on Friday after Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on the stock from $42.00 to $45.00. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock. 394,849 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 38% from the previous session’s volume of 285,305 shares.The stock last traded at $37.43 and had previously closed at $39.80.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on MPLT. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Maplight Therapeutics from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Maplight Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. TD Cowen began coverage on Maplight Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, April 7th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. UBS Group started coverage on Maplight Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, May 26th. They set a “buy” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Raymond James Financial assumed coverage on Maplight Therapeutics in a research report on Wednesday, June 24th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating and a $46.00 price target for the company. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $39.10.

Insider Activity at Maplight Therapeutics

In related news, insider Erin Pennock Foff sold 4,438 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.54, for a total value of $126,660.52. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 346,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,876,523.86. This represents a 1.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,394,094 shares in the company, valued at approximately $37,905,415.86. The trade was a 7.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 495,244 shares of company stock valued at $14,079,461 over the last three months. 3.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Maplight Therapeutics

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Strs Ohio acquired a new stake in Maplight Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey acquired a new stake in shares of Maplight Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth $70,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund purchased a new position in shares of Maplight Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $93,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Maplight Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at $172,000. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Maplight Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $205,000.

Maplight Therapeutics Price Performance

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $30.53 and its 200 day simple moving average is $23.60. The company has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion and a PE ratio of -0.93.

Maplight Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MPLT) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Maplight Therapeutics, Inc. will post -5.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.