WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) Trading Up 6.8% – Time to Buy?

WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE)’s share price shot up 6.8% during trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $14.94 and last traded at $15.1890. 393,180 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 92% from the average session volume of 5,149,302 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.22.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on WVE shares. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of WAVE Life Sciences from $24.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded WAVE Life Sciences from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $9.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, December 8th. HC Wainwright raised their target price on WAVE Life Sciences from $22.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on WAVE Life Sciences from $12.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.67.

WAVE Life Sciences Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.28 billion, a PE ratio of -18.20 and a beta of -1.82. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $12.64 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $9.59.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at WAVE Life Sciences

In other news, Director Christian O. Henry sold 93,445 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.65, for a total value of $1,368,969.25. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 12,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $186,055. This represents a 88.04% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Adrian Rawcliffe sold 42,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total transaction of $630,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 12,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $190,500. This represents a 76.78% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 912,117 shares of company stock worth $13,464,044. Corporate insiders own 23.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of WAVE Life Sciences

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bessemer Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 1,156.3% in 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. increased its position in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 1,441.6% during the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 9,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 9,284 shares during the period. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 18.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 44.8% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 11,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after acquiring an additional 3,609 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. purchased a new position in WAVE Life Sciences in the second quarter valued at $80,000. 89.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About WAVE Life Sciences

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.