Belite Bio’s (BLTE) Buy Rating Reaffirmed at HC Wainwright

Belite Bio (NASDAQ:BLTE)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by HC Wainwright in a research note issued on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. They presently have a $245.00 price target on the stock. HC Wainwright’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 58.86% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also issued reports on BLTE. Canaccord Genuity Group started coverage on shares of Belite Bio in a research note on Friday, September 4th. They set a “buy” rating and a $303.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Belite Bio in a research note on Thursday, September 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Belite Bio in a research report on Friday, October 2nd. Zacks Research lowered shares of Belite Bio from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 18th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on shares of Belite Bio from $201.00 to $206.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 14th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $218.73.

Belite Bio Price Performance

Belite Bio stock traded up $1.51 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $154.23. 58,268 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 191,821. Belite Bio has a fifty-two week low of $81.01 and a fifty-two week high of $200.00. The company has a market capitalization of $6.21 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -56.49 and a beta of -1.23. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $166.19 and its two-hundred day moving average is $157.74.

Belite Bio (NASDAQ:BLTE) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The company reported ($0.54) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Belite Bio will post -3.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Belite Bio

In other news, CFO Hao-Yuan Chuang sold 17,962 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $196.42, for a total value of $3,528,096.04. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 26,038 shares in the company, valued at $5,114,383.96. This represents a 40.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 transaction of $82,660.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 14,500 shares in the company, valued at $2,397,140. The trade was a 3.33% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 169,062 shares of company stock worth $32,101,134 over the last 90 days. 13.29% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Belite Bio

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Perceptive Advisors LLC grew its position in Belite Bio by 732.0% during the fourth quarter. Perceptive Advisors LLC now owns 414,239 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,262,000 after buying an additional 364,451 shares during the period. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC grew its position in Belite Bio by 225.0% during the first quarter. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC now owns 65,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,364,000 after buying an additional 45,000 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC acquired a new stake in Belite Bio during the first quarter valued at $8,291,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new stake in Belite Bio during the first quarter valued at $3,125,000. Finally, Artia Global Partners LP acquired a new stake in Belite Bio during the fourth quarter valued at $2,878,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 0.53% of the company’s stock.

Belite Bio Company Profile

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.