Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) Shares Gap Up to $5.34

Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $5.34, but opened at $6.41. Wave Life Sciences shares last traded at $7.45, with a volume of 1,159,708 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $15.00 price target on shares of Wave Life Sciences in a report on Wednesday, June 26th. B. Riley assumed coverage on shares of Wave Life Sciences in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $11.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on Wave Life Sciences in a research report on Monday, September 9th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $10.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Mizuho reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $19.00 price objective on shares of Wave Life Sciences in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $12.50.

Wave Life Sciences Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $970.00 million, a PE ratio of -12.85 and a beta of -1.13. The business has a 50 day moving average of $5.83 and a 200 day moving average of $5.79.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Paul Bolno sold 48,366 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.78, for a total transaction of $279,555.48. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 359,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,075,361.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 29.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Wave Life Sciences

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WVE. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Wave Life Sciences by 50.2% during the first quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 7,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after buying an additional 2,451 shares during the period. Profund Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Wave Life Sciences in the 2nd quarter worth about $53,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Wave Life Sciences during the 2nd quarter valued at about $74,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp raised its position in Wave Life Sciences by 13.6% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 15,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after purchasing an additional 1,905 shares during the period. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas bought a new stake in Wave Life Sciences in the fourth quarter worth about $86,000. 89.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wave Life Sciences Company Profile

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.