Belite Bio (NASDAQ:BLTE) Raised to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

Belite Bio (NASDAQ:BLTE) was upgraded by investment analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Monday,Zacks.com reports.

BLTE has been the subject of a number of other reports. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Belite Bio in a research report on Monday, July 6th. Truist Financial set a $217.00 target price on shares of Belite Bio in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Belite Bio from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 4th. Benchmark reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Belite Bio in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Belite Bio from $223.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 26th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $203.00.

Belite Bio Stock Performance

NASDAQ BLTE opened at $161.08 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $146.01 and a 200-day moving average of $159.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.46 billion, a P/E ratio of -63.67 and a beta of -1.23. Belite Bio has a 52 week low of $59.12 and a 52 week high of $200.00.

Belite Bio (NASDAQ:BLTE) last released its earnings results on Friday, May 15th. The company reported ($0.34) earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.60) by $0.26. Equities research analysts forecast that Belite Bio will post -3.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Belite Bio

In related news, insider Hendrik Peter Scholl sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.24, for a total value of $1,452,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 15,000 shares in the company, valued at $2,178,600. This represents a 40.00% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, insider Nathan L. Mata sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $155.50, for a total value of $155,500.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,666 shares in the company, valued at $259,063. The trade was a 37.51% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 25,666 shares of company stock valued at $3,749,438 in the last three months. 13.29% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Belite Bio

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of BLTE. Darwin Global Management Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Belite Bio during the fourth quarter worth about $486,915,000. RA Capital Management L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Belite Bio in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $64,750,000. RTW Investments LP grew its position in shares of Belite Bio by 128.9% in the 4th quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 715,332 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,425,000 after purchasing an additional 402,832 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its stake in Belite Bio by 2,594.6% during the 4th quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 558,882 shares of the company’s stock worth $89,399,000 after purchasing an additional 538,141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Perceptive Advisors LLC increased its stake in Belite Bio by 732.0% during the 4th quarter. Perceptive Advisors LLC now owns 414,239 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,262,000 after purchasing an additional 364,451 shares in the last quarter. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Belite Bio Company Profile

Belite Bio, Inc (NASDAQ: BLTE) is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing small molecule therapeutics for metabolic and inflammatory diseases. Leveraging a proprietary drug-discovery platform, the company aims to address conditions such as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) and obesity by targeting pathways involved in fibrosis, inflammation and metabolic regulation.

Belite Bio’s pipeline includes multiple candidates in preclinical and early clinical development stages.