Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE) Short Interest Update

Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,820,000 shares, an increase of 39.5% from the October 15th total of 4,890,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,690,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.0 days.

Wave Life Sciences Stock Down 8.9 %

Wave Life Sciences stock opened at $13.67 on Friday. Wave Life Sciences has a 52-week low of $3.50 and a 52-week high of $16.74. The company has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.32 and a beta of -1.20. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $10.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $7.52.

Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 12th. The company reported ($0.47) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.28) by ($0.19). Wave Life Sciences had a negative net margin of 66.50% and a negative return on equity of 280.57%. The business had revenue of ($7.68) million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.45 million. Research analysts anticipate that Wave Life Sciences will post -1.06 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, major shareholder Plc Gsk acquired 2,791,930 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $8.00 per share, for a total transaction of $22,335,440.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now owns 16,775,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $134,205,528. This represents a 19.97 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, 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 value of $733,670.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 217,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,112,466.32. This represents a 19.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 452,056 shares of company stock worth $5,955,438. 29.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wave Life Sciences

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Wave Life Sciences by 23.4% during the third quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 4,512 shares of the company’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 856 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. raised its position in shares of Wave Life Sciences by 50.2% during the 1st quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 7,334 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,000 after purchasing an additional 2,451 shares during the period. Profund Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wave Life Sciences during the 2nd quarter valued at $53,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Wave Life Sciences in the 2nd quarter worth $74,000. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Wave Life Sciences by 13.6% in the 2nd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 15,887 shares of the company’s stock worth $79,000 after buying an additional 1,905 shares in the last quarter. 89.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WVE has been the topic of several analyst reports. Leerink Partners upped their target price on shares of Wave Life Sciences from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. B. Riley increased their target price on Wave Life Sciences from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on Wave Life Sciences from $7.00 to $15.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. Raymond James raised Wave Life Sciences from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $13.00 to $22.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on Wave Life Sciences from $13.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wave Life Sciences has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.89.

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.