Investors Buy High Volume of Wave Life Sciences Call Options (NASDAQ:WVE)

Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock traders purchased 2,253 call options on the company. This is an increase of 533% compared to the typical volume of 356 call options.

Wave Life Sciences Stock Up 74.1 %

NASDAQ WVE opened at $14.90 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.82 billion, a PE ratio of -28.65 and a beta of -1.10. Wave Life Sciences has a 12-month low of $3.50 and a 12-month high of $15.54. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $6.72 and its 200-day moving average is $6.10.

Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) last issued 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 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 last year, the firm earned ($0.20) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Wave Life Sciences will post -1.02 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Wave Life Sciences

In related news, major shareholder Plc Gsk purchased 2,791,930 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $8.00 per share, with a total value of $22,335,440.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 16,775,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $134,205,528. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Wave Life Sciences news, CEO Paul Bolno sold 48,366 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was 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 directly owns 359,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,075,361.02. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, major shareholder Plc Gsk bought 2,791,930 shares of Wave Life Sciences stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 27th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $8.00 per share, for a total transaction of $22,335,440.00. Following the purchase, the insider now directly owns 16,775,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $134,205,528. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 29.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in Wave Life Sciences during the fourth quarter worth $174,000. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in shares of Wave Life Sciences by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 274,093 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,384,000 after purchasing an additional 9,208 shares during the period. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Wave Life Sciences by 9.0% in 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. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in Wave Life Sciences during the first quarter worth about $586,000. Finally, Swiss National Bank increased its position in Wave Life Sciences by 2.7% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 156,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $966,000 after buying an additional 4,100 shares during the last quarter. 89.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WVE has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Raymond James raised Wave Life Sciences from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and upped their price target for the company from $13.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Wednesday. HC Wainwright increased their target price on shares of Wave Life Sciences from $15.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Wave Life Sciences from $11.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Mizuho restated an “outperform” rating and set a $19.00 target price on shares of Wave Life Sciences in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, B. Riley upped their price target on shares of Wave Life Sciences from $11.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $18.11.

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.