Maplight Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MPLT) Earns Buy Rating from Analysts at Needham & Company LLC

Investment analysts at Needham & Company LLC assumed coverage on shares of Maplight Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MPLT) in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $37.00 price target on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 53.27% from the company’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on MPLT. TD Cowen assumed coverage on Maplight Therapeutics in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings assumed coverage on Maplight Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. They issued a “sell (e)” rating on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group assumed coverage on Maplight Therapeutics in a report on Thursday, March 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $35.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Maplight Therapeutics from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, March 21st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Maplight Therapeutics currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $32.67.

Maplight Therapeutics Price Performance

Shares of MPLT stock opened at $24.14 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $18.35. Maplight Therapeutics has a one year low of $12.24 and a one year high of $24.15. The company has a market capitalization of $1.02 billion and a PE ratio of -0.61.

Maplight Therapeutics (NASDAQ:MPLT) last announced its 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).

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Maplight Therapeutics news, Director George Pavlov purchased 10,658 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $17.48 per share, for a total transaction of $186,301.84. Following the acquisition, the director owned 10,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $186,301.84. This represents a ∞ increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Robert C. Malenka sold 21,262 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.55, for a total value of $394,410.10. Following the transaction, the director owned 371,885 shares in the company, valued at $6,898,466.75. The trade was a 5.41% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have acquired 39,124 shares of company stock worth $693,846 and have sold 74,612 shares worth $1,368,065.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Maplight Therapeutics

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of MPLT. Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of Maplight Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $53,000. Blue Owl Capital Holdings LP bought a new position in shares of Maplight Therapeutics during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,745,000. Geode Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Maplight Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,835,000. Seven Grand Managers LLC acquired a new position in shares of Maplight Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,756,000. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Maplight Therapeutics during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,026,000.

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.