HC Wainwright Reaffirms “Buy” Rating for Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE)

Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by research analysts at HC Wainwright in a note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They presently have a $22.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright’s price objective would suggest a potential upside of 144.17% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also weighed in on WVE. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Wave Life Sciences in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $26.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Wave Life Sciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.60.

Wave Life Sciences Stock Down 10.1 %

Wave Life Sciences stock opened at $9.01 on Wednesday. Wave Life Sciences has a 12 month low of $4.25 and a 12 month high of $16.74. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $10.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.63. The stock has a market cap of $1.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.12 and a beta of -1.04.

Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.17) by $0.34. Wave Life Sciences had a negative net margin of 66.50% and a negative return on equity of 280.57%. The firm had revenue of $83.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.60 million. On average, equities research analysts expect that Wave Life Sciences will post -1.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Wave Life Sciences

In related news, Director Christian O. Henry sold 10,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.77, for a total value of $102,585.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $157,443.55. This represents a 39.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Paul Bolno sold 169,025 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.57, for a total transaction of $1,617,569.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 338,351 shares in the company, valued at $3,238,019.07. This trade represents a 33.31 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 29.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Wave Life Sciences

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Wave Life Sciences by 209.1% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 844,617 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,926,000 after buying an additional 571,345 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Wave Life Sciences by 174.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,540,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,630,000 after acquiring an additional 979,110 shares in the last quarter. Maven Securities LTD bought a new stake in Wave Life Sciences during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $6,970,000. Barclays PLC raised its position in Wave Life Sciences by 171.1% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 159,241 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,307,000 after purchasing an additional 100,498 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cinctive Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Wave Life Sciences by 255.7% in the third quarter. Cinctive Capital Management LP now owns 356,308 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,922,000 after purchasing an additional 256,146 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.73% of the company’s stock.

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.