Belite Bio (NASDAQ:BLTE) Shares Up 5.4% – Should You Buy?

Belite Bio, Inc. Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:BLTE) shares shot up 5.4% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $145.78 and last traded at $144.6970. 15,184 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 192,697 shares. The stock had previously closed at $137.23.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

BLTE has been the subject of several research reports. Benchmark restated a “buy” rating on shares of Belite Bio in a research report on Friday, May 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on shares of Belite Bio from $200.00 to $266.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Belite Bio from $191.00 to $201.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Mizuho reduced 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 report on Tuesday, May 26th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Belite Bio in a research report on Tuesday, April 7th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Belite Bio has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $203.00.

Belite Bio Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $5.65 billion, a PE ratio of -55.77 and a beta of -1.24. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $156.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $158.79.

Belite Bio (NASDAQ:BLTE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 20th. The company reported ($0.34) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.60) by $0.26. On average, analysts anticipate that Belite Bio, Inc. Sponsored ADR will post -3.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Belite Bio news, insider Nathan L. Mata sold 666 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $153.21, for a total transaction of $102,037.86. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 440 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $67,412.40. This represents a 60.22% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold 26,166 shares of company stock worth $4,548,351 over the last quarter. 13.29% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Belite Bio

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Darwin Global Management Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Belite Bio during the fourth quarter valued at about $486,915,000. RA Capital Management L.P. bought a new stake in shares of Belite Bio during the third quarter valued at about $64,750,000. RTW Investments LP increased its position in shares of Belite Bio by 128.9% during the fourth quarter. RTW Investments LP now owns 715,332 shares of the company’s stock valued at $114,425,000 after buying an additional 402,832 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in shares of Belite Bio by 2,594.6% during the fourth quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 558,882 shares of the company’s stock valued at $89,399,000 after buying an additional 538,141 shares during the period. Finally, Perceptive Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of 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. 0.53% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Belite Bio

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.