Maplight Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MPLT) Stock Price Down 7% - Should You Sell?

Key Points

• Maplight Therapeutics shares fell 7% to $11.30 on substantially below-average trading volume, giving the company a market capitalization of approximately $519 million.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $29.67, although UBS downgraded the stock to “Neutral” and cut its target to $13.
• The company exceeded quarterly EPS expectations, reporting a loss of $1.32 per share versus the expected $1.40 loss. Insider activity was mixed, with a director purchasing about $149,000 in shares while another insider sold approximately $277,000 under a pre-arranged trading plan.

Maplight Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MPLT - Get Free Report)'s stock price traded down 7% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $11.40 and last traded at $11.30. Approximately 92,493 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 80% from the average session volume of 457,838 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.15.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Maplight Therapeutics from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Wolfe Research reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $30.00 price target on shares of Maplight Therapeutics in a report on Monday, July 27th. UBS Group lowered shares of Maplight Therapeutics from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $52.00 to $13.00 in a research report on Monday, August 10th. Craig Hallum reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Maplight Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Maplight Therapeutics from $28.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $29.67.

Maplight Therapeutics Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $519.43 million and a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.26. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $26.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.38.

Maplight Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MPLT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 13th. The company reported ($1.32) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($1.40) by $0.08. As a group, analysts predict that Maplight Therapeutics, Inc. will post -5.12 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Troy Cox acquired 15,620 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $9.52 per share, for a total transaction of $148,702.40. Following the purchase, the director owned 15,620 shares in the company, valued at approximately $148,702.40. This trade represents a ∞ increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider James Woodruff Lillie sold 22,082 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 202,380 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,537,845.20. The trade was 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 insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Maplight Therapeutics

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new position in Maplight Therapeutics in the second quarter valued at about $37,000. Strs Ohio bought a new stake in shares of Maplight Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $53,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in shares of Maplight Therapeutics by 10.1% in the first quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 39,465 shares of the company's stock valued at $802,000 after buying an additional 3,608 shares in the last quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey acquired a new position in Maplight Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth about $70,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund bought a new stake in Maplight Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth about $93,000.

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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