WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) Sees Strong Trading Volume – Here’s What Happened

WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE) saw strong trading volume on Thursday . 3,308,745 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 29% from the previous session’s volume of 2,569,282 shares.The stock last traded at $17.0610 and had previously closed at $20.23.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WVE has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley set a $28.00 target price on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a report on Monday. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on WAVE Life Sciences from $16.00 to $29.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Raymond James Financial reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wedbush upped their price target on shares of WAVE Life Sciences from $18.00 to $20.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $27.46.

WAVE Life Sciences Trading Down 16.0%

The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $8.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $7.90. The firm has a market cap of $2.84 billion, a PE ratio of -22.60 and a beta of -1.72.

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Kyle Moran sold 210,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $14.77, for a total transaction of $3,101,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 89,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,317,749.86. This represents a 70.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Gregory L. Verdine sold 20,000 shares of WAVE Life Sciences stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.47, for a total transaction of $269,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 275,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,707,172.99. The trade was a 6.77% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 902,742 shares of company stock worth $13,313,763. 23.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of WAVE Life Sciences

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WVE. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 1,156.3% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 9,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 9,135 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its position in 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 valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 9,284 shares in the last quarter. Ascent Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WAVE Life Sciences in the 1st quarter worth $83,000. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of WAVE Life Sciences during the 3rd quarter worth $86,000. Finally, Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 1,802 shares during the period. 89.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.