WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) Shares Down 10.6% – What’s Next?

Shares of WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE) fell 10.6% on Friday . The company traded as low as $13.68 and last traded at $13.7350. 1,098,302 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 3,627,507 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.36.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on WVE. HC Wainwright boosted their price target on shares of WAVE Life Sciences from $22.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, December 19th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of WAVE Life Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 7th. Leerink Partners reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Wedbush lifted their price target on WAVE Life Sciences from $20.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on WAVE Life Sciences from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.00.

WAVE Life Sciences Stock Performance

The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $14.49 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $10.75. The company has a market cap of $2.32 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.49 and a beta of -1.78.

WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 3rd. The company reported ($0.30) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.28) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $17.25 million for the quarter. WAVE Life Sciences had a negative net margin of 111.64% and a negative return on equity of 75.61%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. will post -1.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Adrian Rawcliffe sold 42,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total transaction of $630,000.00. Following the sale, the director owned 12,700 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $190,500. This represents a 76.78% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Plc Gsk bought 1,470,000 shares of WAVE Life Sciences stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $19.00 per share, with a total value of $27,930,000.00. Following the acquisition, the insider directly owned 18,245,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $346,668,129. This represents a 8.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders sold 915,181 shares of company stock worth $13,612,581 in the last three months. Insiders own 23.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of WAVE Life Sciences

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 6,729.0% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,117 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 2,086 shares during the last quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 645.2% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,243 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after acquiring an additional 1,942 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its position in WAVE Life Sciences by 1,156.3% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 9,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,000 after buying an additional 9,135 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its stake in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 1,441.6% in the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 9,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 9,284 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 18.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 11,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 1,802 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 89.73% of the company’s stock.

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.