Maplight Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MPLT) Insider Sells 12,248 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Insider sale: Anatol Kreitzer sold 12,248 Maplight Therapeutics shares for approximately $96,024 at $7.84 per share, reducing his position by 6.77%. The sale covered tax-withholding obligations tied to vested equity awards.
• Stock performance: MPLT fell to $7.70, near its 12-month low of $7.46, and remains well below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analyst outlook: Ratings are mixed, but the consensus remains “Moderate Buy” with a $29.50 price target; recent firms have substantially lowered targets, including UBS cutting its target to $13.

Maplight Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MPLT - Get Free Report) insider Anatol Kreitzer sold 12,248 shares of Maplight Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.84, for a total value of $96,024.32. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 168,678 shares in the company, valued at $1,322,435.52. The trade was a 6.77% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

Maplight Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ MPLT traded down $0.32 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $7.70. The stock had a trading volume of 359,069 shares, compared to its average volume of 472,697. The business's fifty day moving average is $11.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $22.47. The company has a market cap of $427.94 million and a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.18. Maplight Therapeutics, Inc. has a twelve month low of $7.46 and a twelve month high of $40.43.

Maplight Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MPLT - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, August 13th. The company reported ($1.32) EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($1.40) by $0.08. Sell-side analysts forecast that Maplight Therapeutics, Inc. will post -5.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on MPLT. HC Wainwright decreased their price objective on Maplight Therapeutics from $45.00 to $26.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Maplight Therapeutics in a report on Friday, October 9th. UBS Group downgraded Maplight Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $13.00 in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Raymond James Financial set a $31.00 price target on Maplight Therapeutics in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Maplight Therapeutics from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, October 3rd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $29.50.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Maplight Therapeutics

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Maplight Therapeutics by 12.4% during the 2nd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 51,917 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,861,000 after purchasing an additional 5,709 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE acquired a new position in Maplight Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at about $1,952,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP bought a new stake in Maplight Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $6,054,000. 5AM Venture Management LLC bought a new stake in Maplight Therapeutics during the second quarter worth about $34,048,394. Finally, ADAR1 Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Maplight Therapeutics during the second quarter worth approximately $950,000.

About Maplight Therapeutics

MapLight Therapeutics is a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing medicines for neuropsychiatric and neurological disorders. The company focuses on conditions for which existing treatments may provide limited benefits or cause significant side effects.

MapLight uses a neuroscience-focused drug discovery and development approach to identify therapies intended to address the underlying biology of central nervous system disorders. Its pipeline includes investigational small-molecule treatments being studied for conditions such as schizophrenia and other serious mental health disorders.

The company conducts research and clinical development in the United States.

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