Morgan Stanley Reaffirms "Equal Weight" Rating for Maplight Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MPLT)

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley reaffirmed its “Equal Weight” rating on Maplight Therapeutics but cut its price target to $21 from $34, implying 112.12% upside from the previous close.
• Despite Morgan Stanley’s cautious view, analysts overall remain bullish: Maplight has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $37.25, with multiple firms assigning “Buy” or “Strong Buy” ratings.
• Maplight’s stock opened at $9.90, near its 52-week low, after the company reported a quarterly loss of $1.34 per share—worse than the $0.91 consensus estimate. Insiders have also sold approximately $10.6 million of shares over the past 90 days.

Maplight Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MPLT - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "equal weight" rating reaffirmed by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley in a research report issued on Tuesday, MarketBeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $21.00 price target on the stock, down from their prior price target of $34.00. Morgan Stanley's price target would suggest a potential upside of 112.12% from the company's previous close.

Several other brokerages have also recently issued reports on MPLT. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Maplight Therapeutics from $48.00 to $52.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Maplight Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, July 20th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $46.00 target price for the company. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating on shares of Maplight Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Benchmark reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Maplight Therapeutics in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped 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. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $37.25.

Maplight Therapeutics Price Performance

MPLT stock opened at $9.90 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $421.94 million and a P/E ratio of -0.24. Maplight Therapeutics has a 1-year low of $9.90 and a 1-year high of $40.43. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $31.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.03.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Maplight Therapeutics

In other Maplight Therapeutics news, CEO Christopher A. Kroeger sold 118,235 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.19, for a total value of $3,214,809.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,394,094 shares in the company, valued at $37,905,415.86. This represents a 7.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Vishwas Setia sold 10,564 shares of Maplight Therapeutics stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.24, for a total value of $298,327.36. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 356,256 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,060,669.44. The trade was a 2.88% 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. Insiders sold a total of 379,987 shares of company stock valued at $10,644,411 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Maplight Therapeutics

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of Maplight Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth approximately $53,000. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey purchased a new position in shares of Maplight Therapeutics during the 4th quarter valued at $70,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund bought a new position in Maplight Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth $93,000. MetLife Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Maplight Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at about $172,000. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Maplight Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at about $205,000.

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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