Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE) Position Increased by Swiss National Bank

Swiss National Bank raised its stake in Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE) by 33.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 208,800 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 52,300 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank owned approximately 0.14% of Wave Life Sciences worth $2,583,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Maverick Capital Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Wave Life Sciences by 31.0% during the third quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 10,047,520 shares of the company’s stock valued at $82,390,000 after purchasing an additional 2,378,159 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Wave Life Sciences by 174.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,540,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,630,000 after buying an additional 979,110 shares during the period. RTW Investments LP purchased a new position in shares of Wave Life Sciences in the third quarter worth approximately $7,380,000. Maven Securities LTD acquired a new stake in shares of Wave Life Sciences during the third quarter valued at approximately $6,970,000. Finally, Walleye Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Wave Life Sciences in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,940,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.73% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Christian O. Henry sold 10,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.77, for a total transaction of $102,585.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 16,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $157,443.55. This represents a 39.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Paul Bolno sold 169,025 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 338,351 shares in the company, valued at $3,238,019.07. The trade was a 33.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 29.10% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on WVE. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Wave Life Sciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Wave Life Sciences in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Wave Life Sciences in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $26.00 price objective for the company. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.60.

Wave Life Sciences Price Performance

Shares of Wave Life Sciences stock opened at $9.01 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.12 and a beta of -1.04. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $11.63. Wave Life Sciences Ltd. has a 52-week low of $4.25 and a 52-week high of $16.74.

Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Wave Life Sciences Ltd. will post -1.14 earnings per share for the current 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.