Ken Takanashi Sells 3,864 Shares of WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) Stock

WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE) Director Ken Takanashi sold 3,864 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.01, for a total value of $23,222.64. Following the sale, the director owned 20,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $120,674.79. This represents a 16.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards.

WAVE Life Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WVE opened at $5.41 on Friday. WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. has a 1 year low of $5.01 and a 1 year high of $21.73. The firm has a market cap of $1.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.96 and a beta of -1.26. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $5.88 and its 200-day simple moving average is $8.40.

WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported ($0.34) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.30) by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $2.27 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.45 million. WAVE Life Sciences had a negative return on equity of 50.36% and a negative net margin of 309.73%. As a group, research analysts predict that WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. will post -1.12 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of WAVE Life Sciences

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WVE. CWM LLC increased its holdings in WAVE Life Sciences by 6,729.0% in 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 lifted its holdings in WAVE Life Sciences by 645.2% during the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,243 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 1,942 shares during the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in WAVE Life Sciences during the 4th quarter worth approximately $82,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its position in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 32.1% in the 4th quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 8,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $138,000 after acquiring an additional 1,972 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its position 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. 89.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WVE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wedbush cut their target price on WAVE Life Sciences from $15.00 to $12.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of WAVE Life Sciences from $24.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of WAVE Life Sciences from $27.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. UBS Group set a $13.00 price target on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of WAVE Life Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fourteen have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.53.

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.