Principal Financial Group Inc. Acquires Shares of 14,766 Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE)

Principal Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 14,766 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $74,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of Wave Life Sciences by 50.2% in the first quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 7,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 2,451 shares during the last quarter. Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in Wave Life Sciences by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 156,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $966,000 after purchasing an additional 4,100 shares in the last quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Wave Life Sciences by 9.0% during the 1st quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC now owns 54,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $336,000 after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its stake in Wave Life Sciences by 35.0% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 21,764 shares of the company’s stock valued at $134,000 after purchasing an additional 5,648 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American International Group Inc. raised its holdings in Wave Life Sciences by 23.3% in the first quarter. American International Group Inc. now owns 36,241 shares of the company’s stock worth $224,000 after buying an additional 6,851 shares during the last quarter. 89.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $15.00 price target on shares of Wave Life Sciences in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on Wave Life Sciences in a research note on Monday, September 9th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $10.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Mizuho restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $19.00 price target on shares of Wave Life Sciences in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wave Life Sciences currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $12.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Paul Bolno sold 48,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.78, for a total transaction of $279,555.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 359,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,075,361.02. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 29.10% of the company’s stock.

Wave Life Sciences Stock Performance

Wave Life Sciences stock opened at $5.98 on Tuesday. Wave Life Sciences Ltd. has a one year low of $3.50 and a one year high of $7.67. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $5.83 and a 200 day moving average of $5.79. The stock has a market cap of $745.95 million, a PE ratio of -11.50 and a beta of -1.13.

Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.25) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.16) by ($0.09). The business had revenue of $19.69 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.80 million. Wave Life Sciences had a negative net margin of 66.50% and a negative return on equity of 1,395.99%. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned ($0.20) EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Wave Life Sciences Ltd. will post -1.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.