Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) Issues Earnings Results

Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) posted its earnings results on Tuesday. The company reported ($0.47) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.28) by ($0.19), reports. Wave Life Sciences had a negative return on equity of 280.57% and a negative net margin of 66.50%. The business had revenue of ($7.68) million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.45 million.

Wave Life Sciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WVE opened at $15.05 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 $1.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -13.51 and a beta of -1.20. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $10.40 and its 200-day moving average is $7.41.

Insider Transactions at Wave Life Sciences

In other Wave Life Sciences news, CFO Kyle Moran sold 17,146 shares of Wave Life Sciences stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.00, for a total value of $154,314.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 19,777 shares in the company, valued at approximately $177,993. The trade was a 46.44 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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 value of $576,000.00. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 400,822 shares of company stock valued at $5,221,768. 29.10% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wave Life Sciences

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WVE. Swiss National Bank boosted its position in Wave Life Sciences by 2.7% in the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 156,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $966,000 after buying an additional 4,100 shares during the last quarter. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC bought a new position in Wave Life Sciences in the first quarter valued at about $405,000. ProShare Advisors LLC increased its position in Wave Life Sciences by 35.0% in the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 21,764 shares of the company’s stock worth $134,000 after purchasing an additional 5,648 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Wave Life Sciences by 39.7% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,834,090 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,316,000 after purchasing an additional 521,665 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its position in 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have weighed in on WVE shares. StockNews.com cut Wave Life Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Wave Life Sciences from $7.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, October 21st. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Wave Life Sciences in a research report on Wednesday. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Wave Life Sciences from $11.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Leerink Partners raised their target price on shares of Wave Life Sciences from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wave Life Sciences presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price 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.