WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) Shares Down 4.5% – Here’s Why

WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE)’s stock price fell 4.5% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $14.22 and last traded at $14.17. 1,422,050 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average session volume of 5,529,458 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.83.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of WAVE Life Sciences from $12.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Truist Financial increased their target price on WAVE Life Sciences from $36.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on WAVE Life Sciences from $16.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, UBS Group set a $32.00 price objective on WAVE Life Sciences in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.67.

WAVE Life Sciences Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -18.44 and a beta of -1.82. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $12.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $9.34.

WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) last issued 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 the consensus estimate of $9.85 million. WAVE Life Sciences had a negative return on equity of 75.61% and a negative net margin of 111.64%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. will post -1.14 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at WAVE Life Sciences

In other WAVE Life Sciences news, major shareholder Plc Gsk purchased 1,470,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $19.00 per share, for a total transaction of $27,930,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 18,245,691 shares in the company, valued at $346,668,129. This represents a 8.76% increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kyle Moran sold 210,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.77, for a total value of $3,101,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 89,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,317,749.86. This trade represents a 70.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 912,117 shares of company stock valued at $13,464,044. Corporate insiders own 23.98% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WAVE Life Sciences

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 736.5% during the 3rd quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 258,011 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,889,000 after purchasing an additional 227,167 shares in the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB acquired a new stake in shares of WAVE Life Sciences in the second quarter worth about $330,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 33.1% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,569,015 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,199,000 after acquiring an additional 390,078 shares in the last quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group increased its holdings in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 29.7% during the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 621,378 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,039,000 after acquiring an additional 142,109 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio bought a new position in shares of WAVE Life Sciences in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $406,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.73% of the company’s stock.

WAVE Life Sciences Company Profile

WAVE Life Sciences is a clinical-stage genetic medicines company focused on the discovery and development of stereopure oligonucleotide therapies designed to address serious diseases with high unmet medical need. Leveraging proprietary chemistry and precision synthesis, WAVE engineers drug candidates with defined stereochemistry to optimize potency, safety and manufacturability. This approach aims to enhance target specificity and improve therapeutic profiles compared with traditional oligonucleotide medicines.

The company’s pipeline includes programs in neuromuscular disorders such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy and neurodegenerative conditions including Huntington’s disease, as well as early-stage cardiovascular and liver indications.