Maplight Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MPLT) Shares Up 18.2% Following Insider Buying Activity

Key Points

• Maplight shares jumped 18.2% after Director Troy Cox purchased 15,620 shares for approximately $148,700, signaling potential insider confidence.
• The company’s Phase 2 ZEPHYR trial met its primary endpoint for the twice-daily ML-007C-MA dose, but the once-daily arm failed, creating the need for confirmatory testing and weighing on the drug’s commercial prospects.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with an average “Buy” rating and $34.42 price target, although several firms recently lowered their targets following the mixed trial results.

Shares of Maplight Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MPLT - Get Free Report) were up 18.2% on Wednesday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. The stock traded as high as $14.49 and last traded at $14.5480. Approximately 378,003 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 6% from the average daily volume of 402,503 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.31.

Specifically, Director Troy Cox purchased 15,620 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 28th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $9.52 per share, for a total transaction of $148,702.40. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 15,620 shares in the company, valued at $148,702.40. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Craig Hallum reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Maplight Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday. Raymond James Financial started coverage on Maplight Therapeutics in a report on Wednesday, June 24th. They set a "strong-buy" rating and a $46.00 price target for the company. UBS Group lifted their price target on Maplight Therapeutics from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Maplight Therapeutics from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Maplight Therapeutics in a research report on Monday, July 13th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $34.42.

Key Stories Impacting Maplight Therapeutics

Here are the key news stories impacting Maplight Therapeutics this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Director Troy Cox purchased 15,620 MPLT shares at an average price of $9.52, investing approximately $148,700. The open-market purchase may signal insider confidence following the sharp decline. Maplight Director Insider Purchase
• Positive Sentiment: The twice-daily 210/3 mg dose of ML-007C-MA met the ZEPHYR trial’s primary endpoint, showing statistically significant improvement in total PANSS scores versus placebo, along with reported benefits in cognition and positive symptoms. Maplight plans another trial and an FDA End-of-Phase 2 meeting. Maplight ZEPHYR Trial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to see potential upside despite lowering expectations. HC Wainwright kept a “buy” rating with a $26 target, while Morgan Stanley reaffirmed “equal weight” with a $21 target; both targets are above recent trading levels. Maplight Analyst Ratings
• Neutral Sentiment: The successful twice-daily dose preserves a possible development path, but Maplight will likely need confirmatory data before seeking approval. The company’s clinical-stage status also leaves valuation heavily dependent on future trial outcomes.
• Negative Sentiment: The once-daily arm failed to achieve statistically significant symptom improvement. Investors viewed the result as a major setback because a more convenient once-daily treatment could have improved adoption and commercial potential, wiping out more than $1 billion in market value during the selloff. Maplight Once-Daily Trial Report
• Negative Sentiment: HC Wainwright cut its price target from $45 to $26, and Morgan Stanley reduced its target from $34 to $21. The cuts indicate that analysts now assign less value to the program despite retaining generally constructive ratings.
• Negative Sentiment: A law firm announced an investor fraud investigation opportunity related to Maplight. The notice does not establish wrongdoing, but it adds legal and reputational uncertainty to an already unsettled stock. Maplight Investor Investigation Notice

Maplight Therapeutics Stock Performance

The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $31.54 and a 200 day simple moving average of $25.00. The firm has a market cap of $643.82 million and a P/E ratio of -0.37.

Maplight Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MPLT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported ($1.34) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.91) by ($0.43). Research analysts predict that Maplight Therapeutics, Inc. will post -5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of MPLT. Janus Henderson Group PLC bought a new position in Maplight Therapeutics in the first quarter worth approximately $1,113,000. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Maplight Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at $7,622,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in shares of Maplight Therapeutics by 10.1% during the 1st quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 39,465 shares of the company's stock valued at $802,000 after acquiring an additional 3,608 shares during the period. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Maplight Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth $49,168,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. bought a new position in Maplight Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth $228,000.

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.

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