Belite Bio (NASDAQ:BLTE) Earns Buy Rating from HC Wainwright

Belite Bio (NASDAQ:BLTE)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reiterated by investment analysts at HC Wainwright in a report released on Thursday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $245.00 price objective on the stock. HC Wainwright’s price objective suggests a potential upside of 58.50% from the company’s current price.

Several other equities analysts have also recently weighed in on BLTE. Mizuho increased their price target on Belite Bio from $220.00 to $234.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group assumed coverage on Belite Bio in a report on Friday, September 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $303.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Belite Bio in a report on Thursday, September 3rd. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Belite Bio from $201.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating on shares of Belite Bio in a research report on Wednesday, September 9th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $218.73.

Belite Bio Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ BLTE traded up $1.86 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $154.58. 26,802 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 191,694. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $166.19 and a two-hundred day moving average of $157.74. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.22 billion, a P/E ratio of -56.37 and a beta of -1.23. Belite Bio has a one year low of $81.01 and a one year high of $200.00.

Belite Bio (NASDAQ:BLTE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The company reported ($0.54) earnings per share for the quarter. Equities analysts forecast that Belite Bio will post -3.08 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Belite Bio news, CEO Yu-Hsin Lin sold 26,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $196.56, for a total value of $5,110,560.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 70,134 shares in the company, valued at approximately $13,785,539.04. This represents a 27.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Hendrik Scholl sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.32, for a total value of $82,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 14,500 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,397,140. The trade was a 3.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last quarter, insiders sold 169,062 shares of company stock worth $32,101,134. Corporate insiders own 13.29% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Belite Bio

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Perceptive Advisors LLC increased its stake in Belite Bio by 732.0% in the 4th quarter. Perceptive Advisors LLC now owns 414,239 shares of the company’s stock worth $66,262,000 after buying an additional 364,451 shares in the last quarter. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC increased its stake in Belite Bio by 225.0% in the 1st quarter. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC now owns 65,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,364,000 after buying an additional 45,000 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in Belite Bio in the 1st quarter worth $8,291,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company purchased a new stake in Belite Bio in the 1st quarter worth $3,125,000. Finally, Artia Global Partners LP purchased a new stake in Belite Bio in the 4th quarter worth $2,878,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

About Belite Bio

Belite Bio, Inc is a clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on developing therapies for retinal diseases that can lead to vision loss. The company’s research centers on addressing biological processes associated with the accumulation of toxic vitamin A byproducts in the eye.

Belite Bio’s lead product candidate is tinlarebant, also known as LBS-008, an orally administered retinol-binding protein 4 antagonist. The company is evaluating tinlarebant for Stargardt disease, an inherited retinal disorder, and geographic atrophy associated with dry age-related macular degeneration.

Founded in 2018 and headquartered in San Diego, California, Belite Bio conducts clinical development activities for its retinal disease programs.