Maplight Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MPLT) Hits New 52-Week High - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Shares hit a new 52-week high, trading as high as $24.15 (up ~6.8%) with a market capitalization around $1.02 billion.
• Analyst coverage is mixed but skews positive with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.80; recent initiations include buys from Canaccord and TD Cowen while Weiss and Wall Street Zen issued negative calls.
• Maplight is a clinical-stage CNS biotech that reported a large quarterly miss (EPS -$2.47 vs. -$1.05 consensus), and the stock has seen both insider selling and sizable new stakes from institutions like T. Rowe Price and Goldman Sachs.

Shares of Maplight Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MPLT - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $24.15 and last traded at $24.14, with a volume of 302409 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $22.61.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Canaccord Genuity Group assumed coverage on Maplight Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, March 19th. They set a "buy" rating and a $35.00 target price for the company. Weiss Ratings assumed coverage on Maplight Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. They set a "sell (e)" rating for the company. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Maplight Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Maplight Therapeutics from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, March 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Maplight Therapeutics currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $31.80.

Maplight Therapeutics Stock Up 6.8%

The stock has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion and a PE ratio of -0.61. The stock's 50 day moving average is $18.35.

Maplight Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MPLT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 26th. The company reported ($2.47) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.05) by ($1.42).

Insider Activity at Maplight Therapeutics

In related news, Director Robert C. Malenka sold 21,262 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.55, for a total value of $394,410.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 371,885 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,898,466.75. This trade represents a 5.41% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director George Pavlov acquired 10,658 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $17.48 per share, with a total value of $186,301.84. Following the completion of the purchase, the director directly owned 10,658 shares in the company, valued at $186,301.84. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders bought 39,124 shares of company stock valued at $693,846 and sold 74,612 shares valued at $1,368,065.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Maplight Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Fcpm Iii Services B.V. acquired a new stake in Maplight Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $56,672,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Maplight Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $49,154,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Maplight Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $34,026,000. Nan Fung Group Holdings Ltd acquired a new stake in Maplight Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $17,060,000. Finally, 5AM Venture Management LLC acquired a new stake in Maplight Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $16,687,000.

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.

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