Belite Bio (NASDAQ:BLTE) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume After Analyst Upgrade

Key Points

• Belite Bio (NASDAQ: BLTE) experienced a significant increase in trading volume, with 65,063 shares traded, marking a 66% rise from the previous session.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for BLTE with a consensus "Buy" rating but with target prices ranging from $98.00 to $96.00, following a downgrade from "hold" to "sell" by Wall Street Zen.
• Belite Bio's recent quarterly earnings report reflected a loss of ($0.50) per share, which was below analysts' expectations, indicating ongoing financial challenges as the company develops innovative therapeutics for eye diseases.

Shares of Belite Bio, Inc. Sponsored ADR (NASDAQ:BLTE - Get Free Report) saw strong trading volume on Wednesday after Wall Street Zen upgraded the stock from a sell rating to a hold rating. 65,063 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 66% from the previous session's volume of 39,291 shares.The stock last traded at $67.50 and had previously closed at $66.80.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on the company. HC Wainwright reduced their price target on Belite Bio from $100.00 to $98.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 15th. Zacks Research upgraded Belite Bio from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Belite Bio presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $96.00.

Institutional Trading of Belite Bio

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in BLTE. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Belite Bio by 43.3% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,849 shares of the company's stock valued at $122,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares during the last quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Belite Bio in the 2nd quarter worth about $147,000. BNP Paribas Financial Markets acquired a new position in Belite Bio in the 4th quarter worth about $155,000. Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new position in Belite Bio in the 2nd quarter worth about $547,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in Belite Bio by 36.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 18,342 shares of the company's stock worth $1,157,000 after purchasing an additional 4,891 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 0.53% of the company's stock.

Belite Bio Trading Down 4.2%

The company has a market cap of $2.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -45.29 and a beta of -1.50. The business has a fifty day moving average of $65.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $63.17.

Belite Bio (NASDAQ:BLTE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, August 11th. The company reported ($0.50) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.47) by ($0.03). During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.31) earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Belite Bio, Inc. Sponsored ADR will post -1.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Belite Bio Company Profile

Belite Bio, Inc, a clinical stage biopharmaceutical drug development company, engages in the research and development of novel therapeutics targeting retinal degenerative eye diseases with unmet medical needs in the United States. The company's lead product candidate is LBS-008 (Tinlarebant), an orally administered once-a-day tablet for maintaining the health and integrity of retinal tissues in autosomal recessive Stargardt disease and geographic atrophy patients.