Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE) Receives Average Recommendation of “Buy” from Analysts

Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the ten research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $22.60.

A number of equities research analysts have commented on WVE shares. StockNews.com upgraded Wave Life Sciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on shares of Wave Life Sciences in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $26.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of Wave Life Sciences in a research report on Wednesday.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Christian O. Henry sold 10,500 shares of Wave Life Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.77, for a total value of $102,585.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $157,443.55. This trade represents a 39.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Paul Bolno sold 169,025 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was 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 owns 338,351 shares of the company’s stock, 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.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wave Life Sciences

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in Wave Life Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Quarry LP bought a new stake in shares of Wave Life Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,000. KBC Group NV acquired a new stake in shares of Wave Life Sciences in the fourth quarter worth $67,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd bought a new position in Wave Life Sciences during the third quarter worth $98,000. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Wave Life Sciences by 31.5% during the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 2,308 shares during the last quarter. 89.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wave Life Sciences Price Performance

WVE stock opened at $9.01 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.12 and a beta of -1.04. Wave Life Sciences has a 52-week low of $4.25 and a 52-week high of $16.74. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $10.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $11.63.

Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.17) by $0.34. The company had revenue of $83.75 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.60 million. Wave Life Sciences had a negative net margin of 66.50% and a negative return on equity of 280.57%. Sell-side analysts predict that Wave Life Sciences will post -1.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.