Maplight Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MPLT) Trading 6.4% Higher After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

Shares of Maplight Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MPLT) shot up 6.4% on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The stock traded as high as $12.32 and last traded at $12.11. 42,700 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 91% from the average daily volume of 452,859 shares. The stock had previously closed at $11.38.

The company reported ($1.32) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($1.40) by $0.08.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on MPLT. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Maplight Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $30.00 price objective on shares of Maplight Therapeutics in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Craig Hallum reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Maplight Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. UBS Group downgraded Maplight Therapeutics from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $52.00 to $13.00 in a research report on Monday. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “equal weight” rating and issued a $21.00 price target (down from $34.00) on shares of Maplight Therapeutics in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.67.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 shares were sold at an average price of $27.19, for a total transaction of $3,214,809.65. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,394,094 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Troy Cox acquired 15,620 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 28th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $9.52 per share, with a total value of $148,702.40. Following the acquisition, the director owned 15,620 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $148,702.40. This represents a ∞ increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. 3.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Maplight Therapeutics

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. 5AM Venture Management LLC bought a new stake in Maplight Therapeutics during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $34,048,394,000. ADAR1 Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Maplight Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $950,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in Maplight Therapeutics in the 2nd quarter valued at $37,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in Maplight Therapeutics in the second quarter worth $252,000. Finally, Nan Fung Group Holdings Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Maplight Therapeutics during the second quarter worth $34,809,708,000.

Maplight Therapeutics Stock Up 1.5%

The company has a market cap of $500.79 million and a P/E ratio of -0.28. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $27.31 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.49.

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.