Belite Bio (NASDAQ:BLTE) Shares Gap Up – Should You Buy?

Belite Bio, Inc. Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:BLTE) shares gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $152.84, but opened at $161.43. Belite Bio shares last traded at $160.0250, with a volume of 7,925 shares trading hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

BLTE has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Belite Bio in a research note on Wednesday. Mizuho lowered their price target on Belite Bio from $223.00 to $215.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 26th. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Belite Bio in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Zacks Research raised shares of Belite Bio from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Belite Bio from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, April 4th. 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.00.

Belite Bio Stock Down 2.2%

The stock has a market capitalization of $6.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -61.88 and a beta of -1.23. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $146.01 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $159.55.

Belite Bio (NASDAQ:BLTE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 15th. The company reported ($0.34) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.60) by $0.26. On average, analysts forecast that Belite Bio, Inc. Sponsored ADR will post -3.17 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Belite Bio

In other Belite Bio news, insider Nathan L. Mata sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $155.50, for a total value of $155,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,666 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $259,063. This represents a 37.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Hendrik Peter Scholl sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.24, for a total transaction of $1,452,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 15,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,178,600. This trade represents a 40.00% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 25,666 shares of company stock worth $3,749,438. 13.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Belite Bio

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in BLTE. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Belite Bio during the second quarter worth approximately $147,000. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new stake in shares of Belite Bio during the 2nd quarter worth $547,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets bought a new stake in shares of Belite Bio during the 2nd quarter worth $190,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Belite Bio by 45.2% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 9,809 shares of the company’s stock worth $726,000 after acquiring an additional 3,052 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS Group AG grew its holdings in shares of Belite Bio by 380.7% in the 3rd quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 11,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $839,000 after acquiring an additional 8,976 shares during 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.