Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) Shares Up 13.1% – Still a Buy?

Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE)’s stock price shot up 13.1% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $10.44 and last traded at $10.62. Approximately 774,077 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 30% from the average daily volume of 1,100,914 shares. The stock had previously closed at $9.39.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Wave Life Sciences from $17.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Wave Life Sciences in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $26.00 price target for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Wave Life Sciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. Mizuho upped their target price on Wave Life Sciences from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 21st. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Wave Life Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Wave Life Sciences currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.60.

Wave Life Sciences Price Performance

The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $11.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $11.31. The company has a market capitalization of $1.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.37 and a beta of -1.04.

Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.17) by $0.34. The company had revenue of $83.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.60 million. Wave Life Sciences had a negative net margin of 66.50% and a negative return on equity of 280.57%. Equities research analysts forecast that Wave Life Sciences Ltd. will post -1.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wave Life Sciences

In other Wave Life Sciences news, CEO Paul Bolno sold 169,025 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.57, for a total value of $1,617,569.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 338,351 shares in the company, valued at $3,238,019.07. The trade was a 33.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 29.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Wave Life Sciences

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WVE. US Bancorp DE boosted its holdings in Wave Life Sciences by 53.9% in the third quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 18,043 shares of the company’s stock worth $148,000 after purchasing an additional 6,316 shares in the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its holdings in Wave Life Sciences by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 63,513 shares of the company’s stock worth $521,000 after purchasing an additional 8,255 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Wave Life Sciences in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $194,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Wave Life Sciences by 209.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 844,617 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,926,000 after purchasing an additional 571,345 shares during the period. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company raised its position in shares of Wave Life Sciences by 20.3% in the third quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 168,141 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,379,000 after purchasing an additional 28,351 shares during the period. 89.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Wave Life Sciences

Wave Life Sciences Ltd., a clinical-stage biotechnology company, designs, develops, and commercializes ribonucleic acid (RNA) medicines through PRISM, a discovery and drug development platform. The company's RNA medicines platform, PRISM, combines multiple modalities, chemistry innovation, and deep insights into human genetics to deliver scientific breakthroughs that treat both rare and prevalent disorders.