BlackRock Inc. Takes $36.74 Million Position in Maplight Therapeutics, Inc. $MPLT

Key Points

• BlackRock acquired a new 1.03 million-share position in Maplight Therapeutics during the second quarter, valued at approximately $36.7 million and representing 2.41% of the company.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $29.50, despite the stock opening at $13.31 and trading well below its 52-week high of $40.43.
• Maplight reported a quarterly loss of $1.32 per share, beating estimates by $0.08. Insider activity was mixed, with a director purchasing 15,620 shares while an insider sold 22,082 shares under a pre-arranged trading plan.

BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Maplight Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MPLT - Free Report) in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,025,134 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $36,741,000. BlackRock Inc. owned 2.41% of Maplight Therapeutics at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Strs Ohio bought a new position in Maplight Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $53,000. Blue Owl Capital Holdings LP bought a new stake in Maplight Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth about $5,745,000. Geode Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Maplight Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth about $6,835,000. Seven Grand Managers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Maplight Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth about $1,756,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Maplight Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,026,000.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Benchmark reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Maplight Therapeutics in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Maplight Therapeutics from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, June 1st. Raymond James Financial set a $31.00 target price on shares of Maplight Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Canaccord Genuity Group set a $21.00 target price on shares of Maplight Therapeutics in a report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Lifesci Capital raised shares of Maplight Therapeutics to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $29.50.

Maplight Therapeutics Stock Performance

Maplight Therapeutics stock opened at $13.31 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $23.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $24.07. The stock has a market capitalization of $617.32 million and a P/E ratio of -0.31. Maplight Therapeutics, Inc. has a 52 week low of $9.10 and a 52 week high of $40.43.

Maplight Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MPLT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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. Research analysts forecast that Maplight Therapeutics, Inc. will post -5.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Maplight Therapeutics 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.

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