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

Maplight Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MPLT) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $37.78 and last traded at $37.6130, with a volume of 110012 shares. The stock had previously closed at $37.06.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on MPLT. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Maplight Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group began coverage on Maplight Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $35.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on shares of Maplight Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, June 24th. They issued a “strong-buy” rating and a $46.00 target price for the company. Needham & Company LLC lifted their price target on Maplight Therapeutics from $37.00 to $42.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Craig Hallum lowered their price objective on shares of Maplight Therapeutics from $43.00 to $40.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, June 23rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $38.80.

Maplight Therapeutics Stock Up 2.1%

The company has a 50 day moving average of $30.18 and a 200 day moving average of $23.33. The firm has a market cap of $1.61 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of -0.92.

Maplight Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MPLT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 14th. The company reported ($1.34) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.91) by ($0.43). As a group, equities research analysts expect that Maplight Therapeutics, Inc. will post -5.13 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider James Woodruff Lillie sold 24,811 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.76, for a total value of $713,564.36. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 243,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,001,622. The trade was a 9.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Erin Pennock Foff sold 24,052 shares of Maplight Therapeutics stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.76, for a total transaction of $691,735.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 350,497 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,080,293.72. This represents a 6.42% 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 quarter, insiders have sold 495,244 shares of company stock worth $14,079,461. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Maplight Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of MPLT. Fcpm Iii Services B.V. bought a new position in Maplight Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth about $56,672,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Maplight Therapeutics in the 4th quarter worth $49,168,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. bought a new stake in Maplight Therapeutics in the fourth quarter worth about $34,026,000. Nan Fung Group Holdings Ltd acquired a new stake in Maplight Therapeutics during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $17,060,000. Finally, 5AM Venture Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of 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.