Belite Bio (NASDAQ:BLTE) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

Key Points

• Zacks Research downgraded Belite Bio from “strong buy” to “hold,” although the broader analyst consensus remains “moderate buy” with a $205.80 price target.
• Other analysts remain bullish: price targets range from $214 to $270, while Belite Bio shares opened at $168.55 and have traded between $60 and $200 over the past year.
• Insiders have sold 20,732 shares worth approximately $2.99 million over the past 90 days, while the company continues developing small-molecule treatments for metabolic and inflammatory diseases.

Belite Bio (NASDAQ:BLTE - Get Free Report) was downgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report released on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on BLTE. HC Wainwright increased their price objective on shares of Belite Bio from $200.00 to $214.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their target price on shares of Belite Bio from $266.00 to $270.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Mizuho set a $220.00 target price on Belite Bio in a report on Friday, August 14th. Truist Financial set a $217.00 price target on Belite Bio in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Belite Bio in a research note on Monday, July 6th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Belite Bio currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $205.80.

Belite Bio Price Performance

NASDAQ:BLTE opened at $168.55 on Tuesday. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $154.03 and its 200-day simple moving average is $159.79. Belite Bio has a fifty-two week low of $60.00 and a fifty-two week high of $200.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.76 billion, a PE ratio of -61.74 and a beta of -1.22.

Belite Bio (NASDAQ:BLTE - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, June 30th. The company reported ($0.54) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. On average, research analysts expect that Belite Bio will post -3.1 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Belite Bio news, CEO Yu-Hsin Lin sold 365 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $180.35, for a total transaction of $65,827.75. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 170,569 shares of the company's stock, valued at $30,762,119.15. The trade was a 0.21% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Hendrik Peter Scholl sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 18th. The stock was 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 represents a 40.00% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 20,732 shares of company stock worth $2,990,116. 13.29% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Belite Bio

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of BLTE. Affinity Asset Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Belite Bio by 225.0% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Western Standard LLC acquired a new position in Belite Bio during the fourth quarter worth $9,602,000. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company acquired a new position in Belite Bio during the first quarter worth $3,125,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Belite Bio during the first quarter worth $8,291,000. Finally, Eventide Asset Management LLC raised its position in Belite Bio by 96.1% during the fourth quarter. Eventide Asset Management LLC now owns 383,091 shares of the company's stock worth $61,279,000 after acquiring an additional 187,779 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 0.53% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

Continue following MarketBeat

Add MarketBeat as your preferred source on Google to see our latest stories in your feed.

Add As Preferred Source