Maplight Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MPLT) Price Target Lowered to $43.00 at Needham & Company LLC

Key Points

• Needham & Company lowered Maplight Therapeutics’ price target to $43 from $45 while maintaining a “buy” rating, implying 241.27% upside from the prior close.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and average price target of $29.50, though several firms recently cut targets or downgraded the stock.
• Maplight shares opened at $12.60, near the lower end of their $9.10–$40.43 one-year range. The company reported a quarterly loss of $1.32 per share, beating estimates for a $1.40 loss.

Maplight Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MPLT - Get Free Report) had its price target dropped by investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $45.00 to $43.00 in a note issued to investors on Monday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC's price target would indicate a potential upside of 241.27% from the stock's previous close.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on MPLT. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Maplight Therapeutics from a "strong sell" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $21.00 target price on shares of Maplight Therapeutics in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Morgan Stanley restated an "equal weight" rating and set a $21.00 price target (down from $34.00) on shares of Maplight Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. HC Wainwright decreased their price target on shares of Maplight Therapeutics from $45.00 to $26.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, UBS Group lowered shares of Maplight Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $52.00 to $13.00 in a report on Monday, August 10th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $29.50.

Maplight Therapeutics Price Performance

Maplight Therapeutics stock opened at $12.60 on Monday. Maplight Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $9.10 and a 1-year high of $40.43. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $23.97 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $584.39 million and a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.30.

Maplight Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MPLT - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The company reported ($1.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($1.40) by $0.08. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Maplight Therapeutics will post -5.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Maplight Therapeutics

In other Maplight Therapeutics news, Director Troy Cox acquired 15,620 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $9.52 per share, for a total transaction of $148,702.40. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 15,620 shares of the company's stock, valued at $148,702.40. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider James Woodruff Lillie sold 22,082 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $12.54, for a total transaction of $276,908.28. Following the transaction, the insider owned 202,380 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,537,845.20. This represents a 9.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Maplight Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of MPLT. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Maplight Therapeutics by 386.0% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 5,161 shares of the company's stock worth $185,000 after buying an additional 4,099 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Maplight Therapeutics by 12.4% during the second quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 51,917 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,861,000 after acquiring an additional 5,709 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Maplight Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,952,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new position in Maplight Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at approximately $6,054,000. Finally, 5AM Venture Management LLC purchased a new stake in Maplight Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,048,394.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source