WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) Raised to Hold at Wall Street Zen

WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) was upgraded by stock analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Saturday.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on WVE. B. Riley raised their price objective on WAVE Life Sciences from $19.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded WAVE Life Sciences from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $9.00 to $27.00 in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Wedbush raised their target price on shares of WAVE Life Sciences from $20.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.07.

WAVE Life Sciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WVE opened at $16.56 on Friday. 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 has a one year low of $5.28 and a one year high of $21.73. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.66 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $8.06.

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

Insider Activity

In other WAVE Life Sciences news, CFO Kyle Moran sold 210,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.77, for a total transaction of $3,101,700.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 89,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,317,749.86. The trade was a 70.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregory L. Verdine sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.47, for a total transaction of $269,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 275,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,707,172.99. This trade represents a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 902,742 shares of company stock valued at $13,313,763. 23.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WAVE Life Sciences

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WVE. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC boosted its position in WAVE Life Sciences by 10.2% during the 2nd quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC now owns 13,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $85,000 after acquiring an additional 1,210 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. raised its position in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 18.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 11,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 1,802 shares in the last quarter. Velan Capital Investment Management LP lifted its stake in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 15.4% in the 2nd quarter. Velan Capital Investment Management LP now owns 15,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $98,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Matisse Capital boosted its position in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 17.9% during the third quarter. Matisse Capital now owns 13,193 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas grew its stake in WAVE Life Sciences by 8.2% in the second quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 28,955 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,000 after purchasing an additional 2,206 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.73% of the company’s stock.

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.