WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) Trading 9.5% Higher – Here’s Why

WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE) shares were up 9.5% during mid-day trading on Monday . The stock traded as high as $17.20 and last traded at $17.5030. Approximately 2,392,543 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 11% from the average daily volume of 2,698,193 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.98.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WVE has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of WAVE Life Sciences from $16.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 9th. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of WAVE Life Sciences from $36.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded WAVE Life Sciences from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their price target for the stock from $9.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, December 8th. B. Riley boosted their price objective on WAVE Life Sciences from $19.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 target price on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a report on Monday, December 8th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.67.

WAVE Life Sciences Stock Up 4.6%

The firm’s 50 day moving average is $10.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $8.62. The stock has a market cap of $3.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -24.37 and a beta of -1.72.

WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) last posted its earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.30) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $7.61 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.85 million. WAVE Life Sciences had a negative net margin of 111.64% and a negative return on equity of 75.61%. On average, analysts anticipate that WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. will post -1.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other WAVE Life Sciences news, CFO Kyle Moran sold 210,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.77, for a total value of $3,101,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 89,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,317,749.86. This trade represents a 70.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Adrian Rawcliffe sold 42,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total transaction of $630,000.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 12,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $190,500. This trade represents a 76.78% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 902,742 shares of company stock worth $13,313,763 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 23.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of WVE. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its holdings in WAVE Life Sciences by 678,144.7% in the third quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,750,693 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,455,000 after purchasing an additional 3,750,140 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. raised its position in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 30.1% during the 1st quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 12,516,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $101,133,000 after buying an additional 2,894,396 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its stake in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 35.3% in the 2nd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 3,295,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,422,000 after acquiring an additional 859,160 shares during the period. Stempoint Capital LP boosted its holdings in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 902.2% in the second quarter. Stempoint Capital LP now owns 900,338 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,852,000 after acquiring an additional 810,505 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kennedy Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 1,489.5% in the third quarter. Kennedy Capital Management LLC now owns 540,437 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,956,000 after acquiring an additional 506,437 shares in the last quarter. 89.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WAVE Life Sciences Company Profile

WAVE Life Sciences is a clinical-stage genetic medicines company focused on the discovery and development of stereopure oligonucleotide therapies designed to address serious diseases with high unmet medical need. Leveraging proprietary chemistry and precision synthesis, WAVE engineers drug candidates with defined stereochemistry to optimize potency, safety and manufacturability. This approach aims to enhance target specificity and improve therapeutic profiles compared with traditional oligonucleotide medicines.

The company’s pipeline includes programs in neuromuscular disorders such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy and neurodegenerative conditions including Huntington’s disease, as well as early-stage cardiovascular and liver indications.