Maplight Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MPLT) Shares Up 12.8% – Time to Buy?

Maplight Therapeutics, Inc. (NASDAQ:MPLT) shares rose 12.8% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $31.65 and last traded at $31.1440. 79,636 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 63% from the average session volume of 212,942 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.62.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Maplight Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, March 21st. Weiss Ratings started coverage on shares of Maplight Therapeutics in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. They set a “sell (e)” rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC initiated coverage on shares of Maplight Therapeutics in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $37.00 price target for the company. TD Cowen began coverage on Maplight Therapeutics in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group initiated coverage on Maplight Therapeutics in a research report on Thursday, March 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $35.00 target price on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.67.

Maplight Therapeutics Trading Down 9.4%

The company’s fifty day moving average is $20.87. The firm has a market cap of $1.24 billion and a PE ratio of -0.73.

Maplight Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MPLT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, March 26th. The company reported ($2.47) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($1.05) by ($1.42). Sell-side analysts forecast that Maplight Therapeutics, Inc. will post -3.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Timothy John Garnett bought 14,124 shares of Maplight Therapeutics stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 10th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $17.89 per share, with a total value of $252,678.36. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 14,124 shares in the company, valued at $252,678.36. The trade was a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director George Pavlov purchased 9,920 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $17.86 per share, with a total value of $177,171.20. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 25,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $446,500. The trade was a 65.78% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have bought 39,124 shares of company stock worth $693,846 and have sold 74,612 shares worth $1,368,065.

Institutional Trading of Maplight Therapeutics

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp acquired a new position in Maplight Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at $4,031,000. Freestone Grove Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Maplight Therapeutics in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,228,000. Burkehill Global Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Maplight Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,317,000. TD Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Maplight Therapeutics in the 4th quarter valued at $649,000. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company MN acquired a new stake in Maplight Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth $328,000.

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.