WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) Shares Down 4.3% – Here’s Why

by · The Cerbat Gem

WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE – Get Free Report)’s stock price was down 4.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $15.87 and last traded at $15.6380. Approximately 400,734 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 85% from the average daily volume of 2,680,144 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.34.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WVE. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on WAVE Life Sciences from $16.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of WAVE Life Sciences from $36.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Raymond James Financial restated an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 target price on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of WAVE Life Sciences from $20.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Thirteen equities research 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.13.

View Our Latest Analysis on WAVE Life Sciences

WAVE Life Sciences Trading Down 4.7%

The company has a market capitalization of $2.60 billion, a PE ratio of -20.74 and a beta of -1.72. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $9.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.26.

WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 firm 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, analysts anticipate that WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. will post -1.14 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other WAVE Life Sciences news, major shareholder Plc Gsk bought 1,470,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $19.00 per share, for a total transaction of $27,930,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 18,245,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $346,668,129. The trade was a 8.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Mark Corrigan sold 16,115 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.48, for a total transaction of $217,230.20. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 28,815 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $388,426.20. This represents a 35.87% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 902,742 shares of company stock valued at $13,313,763 over the last quarter. 23.98% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in WAVE Life Sciences by 1,156.3% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 9,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 9,135 shares in the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 1,441.6% in the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 9,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after buying an additional 9,284 shares during the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC bought a new position in shares of WAVE Life Sciences during the 1st quarter worth approximately $83,000. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in WAVE Life Sciences during the third quarter valued at approximately $86,000. Finally, Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its position in WAVE Life Sciences by 18.7% during the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 11,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 1,802 shares during the last quarter. 89.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About WAVE Life Sciences

(Get Free Report)

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.

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