WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) Hits New 1-Year High Following Analyst Upgrade

WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Tuesday after Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on the stock from $12.00 to $34.00. Cantor Fitzgerald currently has an overweight rating on the stock. WAVE Life Sciences traded as high as $19.60 and last traded at $18.52, with a volume of 145902926 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $7.49.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on WVE. Raymond James Financial reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 price target on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a research note on Monday. Morgan Stanley set a $28.00 price objective on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a research report on Monday. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded WAVE Life Sciences from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and raised their price objective for the company from $9.00 to $27.00 in a report on Monday. Finally, B. Riley restated a “buy” rating on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a report on Thursday, September 4th. Twelve 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 presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $27.46.

Insider Activity

In other WAVE Life Sciences news, insider Chris Francis sold 441,031 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.57, for a total value of $6,425,821.67. Following the sale, the insider owned 25,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $364,250. This trade represents a 94.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Mark Corrigan sold 16,115 shares of WAVE Life Sciences stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.48, for a total value of $217,230.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 28,815 shares in the company, valued at approximately $388,426.20. This represents a 35.87% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 902,742 shares of company stock valued at $13,313,763. Corporate insiders own 23.98% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WAVE Life Sciences

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WVE. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its holdings in WAVE Life Sciences by 1,156.3% during the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 9,925 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 9,135 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 1,441.6% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 9,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after purchasing an additional 9,284 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. raised its position in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 18.7% during the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 11,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,802 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its holdings in WAVE Life Sciences by 44.8% during the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 11,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after buying an additional 3,609 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. bought a new position in WAVE Life Sciences in the 2nd quarter valued at about $80,000. 89.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WAVE Life Sciences Stock Down 5.1%

The company has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a PE ratio of -26.97 and a beta of -1.72. The company has a 50-day moving average of $8.27 and a 200-day moving average of $7.90.

WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.30) by ($0.02). The firm 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%. As a group, equities analysts predict that WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. will post -1.14 EPS for the current year.

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.