WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE) shares gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $15.00, but opened at $19.05. WAVE Life Sciences shares last traded at $17.8370, with a volume of 3,839,088 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on WVE. HC Wainwright upped their target price on WAVE Life Sciences from $22.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of WAVE Life Sciences from $20.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $21.00 target price on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a research report on Monday, December 8th. B. Riley raised 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, Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on WAVE Life Sciences from $24.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $31.67.

WAVE Life Sciences Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $2.40 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.33 and a beta of -1.82. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $11.92 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.30.

WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). WAVE Life Sciences had a negative net margin of 111.64% and a negative return on equity of 75.61%. The business had revenue of $7.61 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.85 million. As a group, research analysts expect that WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. will post -1.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Gregory L. Verdine sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.47, for a total value of $269,400.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 275,217 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,707,172.99. This represents a 6.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, major shareholder Plc Gsk bought 1,470,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $19.00 per share, with a total value of $27,930,000.00. Following the purchase, the insider owned 18,245,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $346,668,129. The trade was a 8.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 912,117 shares of company stock worth $13,464,044 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 23.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WAVE Life Sciences

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Federated Hermes Inc. lifted its position 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 valued at $27,455,000 after purchasing an additional 3,750,140 shares during the period. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its holdings in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 20.0% in the 2nd quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 15,016,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $97,607,000 after buying an additional 2,500,000 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P boosted its stake in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 35.3% in the second quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 3,295,700 shares of the company’s stock valued at $21,422,000 after buying an additional 859,160 shares in the last quarter. Stempoint Capital LP grew its holdings in WAVE Life Sciences by 902.2% during the second quarter. Stempoint Capital LP now owns 900,338 shares of the company’s stock worth $5,852,000 after acquiring an additional 810,505 shares during the period. Finally, Kennedy Capital Management LLC raised its position in 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 worth $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.

About WAVE Life Sciences

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.