Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) Trading 7.7% Higher – Still a Buy?

Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE) shares shot up 7.7% during trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $13.44 and last traded at $13.32. 456,007 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 59% from the average session volume of 1,106,373 shares. The stock had previously closed at $12.37.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Leerink Partners lifted their price objective on shares of Wave Life Sciences from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Wave Life Sciences from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 21st. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Wave Life Sciences from $17.00 to $36.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. Royal Bank of Canada increased 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. Finally, B. Riley lifted their price objective on shares of Wave Life Sciences from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Wave Life Sciences currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.22.

Wave Life Sciences Trading Up 1.5 %

The stock has a market capitalization of $2.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.17 and a beta of -1.07. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $9.46.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wave Life Sciences

In other news, CEO Paul Bolno sold 51,234 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,112,466.32. This represents a 19.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Chris Francis sold 36,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.00, for a total transaction of $576,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 436,544 shares of company stock worth $6,271,569 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 29.10% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wave Life Sciences

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WVE. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Wave Life Sciences by 13.9% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 225,402 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,125,000 after acquiring an additional 27,524 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank raised its stake in Wave Life Sciences by 75.2% during the second quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 33,491 shares of the company’s stock worth $167,000 after acquiring an additional 14,371 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Wave Life Sciences during the 2nd quarter valued at about $74,000. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in Wave Life Sciences by 3.4% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 125,834 shares of the company’s stock valued at $628,000 after buying an additional 4,092 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust bought a new stake in Wave Life Sciences during the second quarter worth about $9,086,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.73% of the company’s stock.

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.