Maplight Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MPLT) Stock Price Down 9.2% – Here’s Why

Maplight Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MPLT)’s share price traded down 9.2% on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $13.63 and last traded at $13.64. Approximately 895,748 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 111% from the average daily volume of 425,081 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.02.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on MPLT. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Maplight Therapeutics in a report on Monday, July 13th. Lifesci Capital upgraded shares of Maplight Therapeutics to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Needham & Company LLC raised their target price on Maplight Therapeutics from $42.00 to $45.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley restated an “equal weight” rating and set a $21.00 price target (down from $34.00) on shares of Maplight Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Craig Hallum restated a “buy” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Maplight Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $34.42.

Maplight Therapeutics Trading Down 8.2%

The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $31.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.99. The firm has a market cap of $587.45 million and a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.34.

Maplight Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MPLT) last posted its 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). On average, sell-side analysts expect that Maplight Therapeutics, Inc. will post -5.13 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Maplight Therapeutics

In other news, CEO Christopher A. Kroeger sold 118,235 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.19, for a total transaction 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider James Woodruff Lillie sold 24,811 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.76, for a total transaction of $713,564.36. Following the transaction, the insider owned 243,450 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,001,622. The trade was a 9.25% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 379,987 shares of company stock valued at $10,644,411. Company insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Maplight Therapeutics

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MPLT. Janus Henderson Group PLC purchased a new position in Maplight Therapeutics in the first quarter worth $1,113,000. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Maplight Therapeutics during the 1st quarter valued at about $7,622,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 3,608 shares in the last quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Maplight Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,168,000. Finally, Invesco Ltd. purchased a new position in Maplight Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth $228,000.

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.