Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) Trading Down 2.8% – What’s Next?

Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE)’s stock price fell 2.8% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $7.52 and last traded at $7.52. 835,114 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 26% from the average session volume of 1,135,855 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.74.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WVE. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Wave Life Sciences in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $26.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com upgraded Wave Life Sciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Wave Life Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Wave Life Sciences currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.60.

Wave Life Sciences Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.78 and a beta of -0.93. The company’s 50-day moving average is $10.61 and its 200-day moving average is $11.75.

Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.17) by $0.34. Wave Life Sciences had a negative return on equity of 280.57% and a negative net margin of 66.50%. The business had revenue of $83.75 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.60 million. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Wave Life Sciences Ltd. will post -1.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Wave Life Sciences

In related news, Director Christian O. Henry sold 10,500 shares of Wave Life Sciences stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.77, for a total transaction of $102,585.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $157,443.55. The trade was a 39.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Paul Bolno sold 169,025 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.57, for a total value of $1,617,569.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 338,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,238,019.07. This represents a 33.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 29.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Wave Life Sciences

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WVE. Driehaus Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Wave Life Sciences by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 6,712,449 shares of the company’s stock valued at $83,033,000 after buying an additional 853,589 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Wave Life Sciences by 63.1% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,098,866 shares of the company’s stock worth $63,074,000 after purchasing an additional 1,972,262 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Wave Life Sciences by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,182,512 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,368,000 after buying an additional 294,956 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC raised its holdings in Wave Life Sciences by 9.7% in the fourth quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 3,162,369 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,119,000 after acquiring an additional 280,859 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Wave Life Sciences by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,470,751 shares of the company’s stock valued at $30,571,000 after acquiring an additional 201,087 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.73% of the company’s stock.

Wave Life Sciences Company Profile

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.