Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) Trading Down 5% on Insider Selling

Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE)’s stock price traded down 5% on Monday following insider selling activity. The stock traded as low as $12.87 and last traded at $12.98. 634,435 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 43% from the average session volume of 1,112,281 shares. The stock had previously closed at $13.67.

Specifically, CEO Paul Bolno sold 51,234 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.32, for a total transaction of $733,670.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 217,351 shares in the company, valued at $3,112,466.32. This represents a 19.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Chris Francis sold 36,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.00, for a total value of $576,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WVE has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Wave Life Sciences from $13.00 to $17.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $22.00 price target on shares of Wave Life Sciences in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Raymond James upgraded Wave Life Sciences from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $13.00 to $22.00 in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. StockNews.com cut Wave Life Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 13th. Finally, Leerink Partners lifted their price objective on Wave Life Sciences from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.89.

Wave Life Sciences Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.96 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.17 and a beta of -1.20. The business’s 50-day moving average is $10.76 and its 200 day moving average is $7.55.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WVE. Privium Fund Management B.V. bought a new stake in Wave Life Sciences during the third quarter worth $400,000. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Wave Life Sciences by 69.0% in the 3rd quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC now owns 303,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,485,000 after purchasing an additional 123,703 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC bought a new stake in Wave Life Sciences during the second quarter valued at $668,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Wave Life Sciences by 39.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,834,090 shares of the company’s stock valued at $11,316,000 after purchasing an additional 521,665 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Wave Life Sciences by 62.2% during the 2nd quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 908,096 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,531,000 after buying an additional 348,300 shares during the period. 89.73% of the stock is owned by 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.