WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Research

WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) was downgraded by equities researchers at Zacks Research from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research firms have also weighed in on WVE. B. Riley Financial lowered their price objective on shares of WAVE Life Sciences from $31.00 to $22.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 31st. New Street Research set a $13.00 price target on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a research report on Thursday, June 11th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of WAVE Life Sciences from $27.00 to $23.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on shares of WAVE Life Sciences from $13.00 to $14.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of WAVE Life Sciences from $24.00 to $19.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 31st. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, WAVE Life Sciences currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.53.

WAVE Life Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WVE opened at $5.25 on Wednesday. WAVE Life Sciences has a 52-week low of $5.01 and a 52-week high of $21.73. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -4.82 and a beta of -1.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $5.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $8.15.

WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported ($0.34) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.30) by ($0.04). The firm had revenue of $2.27 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $7.45 million. WAVE Life Sciences had a negative return on equity of 50.36% and a negative net margin of 309.73%. Analysts forecast that WAVE Life Sciences will post -1.11 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at WAVE Life Sciences

In other WAVE Life Sciences news, Director Adrian Rawcliffe sold 12,700 shares of WAVE Life Sciences stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.29, for a total value of $67,183.00. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Heidi L. Wagner sold 7,000 shares of WAVE Life Sciences stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.01, for a total transaction of $42,070.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 44,930 shares in the company, valued at $270,029.30. This represents a 13.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 23,564 shares of company stock valued at $132,476. 24.30% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA increased its position in WAVE Life Sciences by 5,024.6% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 805,901 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,830,000 after buying an additional 790,175 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in WAVE Life Sciences by 152.6% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 597,220 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,330,000 after acquiring an additional 360,800 shares in the last quarter. Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. acquired a new stake in WAVE Life Sciences in the fourth quarter worth about $1,530,000. F m Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 24.5% during the fourth quarter. F m Investments LLC now owns 395,894 shares of the company’s stock worth $6,730,000 after acquiring an additional 77,807 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Elmind Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of WAVE Life Sciences during the fourth quarter worth about $7,613,000. 89.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.