WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) Sees Large Volume Increase – Here’s Why

Shares of WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE) saw an uptick in trading volume on Thursday . 3,308,745 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 29% from the previous session’s volume of 2,569,282 shares.The stock last traded at $17.0610 and had previously closed at $20.23.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 price target on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a report on Monday. HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Leerink Partners reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a research note on Monday. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded shares of WAVE Life Sciences from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $9.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Monday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of WAVE Life Sciences from $19.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.07.

WAVE Life Sciences Trading Down 1.1%

The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $8.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $8.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -22.08 and a beta of -1.72.

WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.30) by ($0.02). WAVE Life Sciences had a negative return on equity of 75.61% and a negative net margin of 111.64%.The business had revenue of $7.61 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.85 million. As a group, analysts expect that WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. will post -1.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at WAVE Life Sciences

In related news, CFO Kyle Moran sold 50,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.03, for a total transaction of $1,002,221.08. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 89,218 shares in the company, valued at $1,787,036.54. This trade represents a 35.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregory L. Verdine sold 20,000 shares of WAVE Life Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.47, for a total value of $269,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 275,217 shares in the company, valued at $3,707,172.99. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 902,742 shares of company stock worth $13,313,763 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 23.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WVE. Handelsbanken Fonder AB purchased a new stake in WAVE Life Sciences in the second quarter worth about $330,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 33.1% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,569,015 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,199,000 after buying an additional 390,078 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in WAVE Life Sciences by 97.2% during the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 78,880 shares of the company’s stock valued at $637,000 after buying an additional 38,870 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in WAVE Life Sciences during the first quarter valued at $406,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in WAVE Life Sciences by 29.7% in the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 621,378 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,039,000 after acquiring an additional 142,109 shares in the last quarter. 89.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.