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

Shares of Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE) have been given a consensus rating of “Buy” by the twelve ratings firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation, ten have assigned a buy recommendation and one has given a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $21.17.

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on WVE shares. Wedbush started coverage on Wave Life Sciences in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $18.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Wave Life Sciences in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $26.00 price target for the company. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Wave Life Sciences in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Wave Life Sciences in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $10.00 target price for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Wave Life Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th.

Insider Activity at Wave Life Sciences

In other Wave Life Sciences news, CEO Paul Bolno sold 169,025 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.57, for a total value of $1,617,569.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 338,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,238,019.07. The trade was a 33.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Christian O. Henry sold 10,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.77, for a total transaction of $102,585.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $157,443.55. This trade represents a 39.45% 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 insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wave Life Sciences

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of WVE. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in shares of Wave Life Sciences during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Quarry LP purchased a new position in shares of Wave Life Sciences in the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. KBC Group NV purchased a new position in Wave Life Sciences during the 4th quarter worth approximately $67,000. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Wave Life Sciences by 31.5% during the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,642 shares of the company’s stock worth $119,000 after purchasing an additional 2,308 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Westwood Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Wave Life Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at about $124,000. 89.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wave Life Sciences Stock Down 7.6%

Shares of Wave Life Sciences stock opened at $6.04 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $930.97 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.44 and a beta of -0.92. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $7.17 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.74. Wave Life Sciences has a 52 week low of $4.25 and a 52 week high of $16.74.

Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.29) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.02). Wave Life Sciences had a negative net margin of 66.50% and a negative return on equity of 280.57%. The company had revenue of $9.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.65 million. During the same period last year, the business earned ($0.24) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Wave Life Sciences will post -1.14 earnings per share for the current 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.