WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) Releases Earnings Results, Misses Expectations By $0.02 EPS

WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) released its quarterly earnings data on Monday. The company reported ($0.32) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.30) by ($0.02), Zacks reports. The company had revenue of $7.61 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.85 million.

WAVE Life Sciences Price Performance

Shares of WVE stock opened at $7.26 on Wednesday. WAVE Life Sciences has a 12-month low of $5.28 and a 12-month high of $16.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.07 and a beta of -1.44. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $7.49 and a 200 day simple moving average of $7.56.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have commented on WVE. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating and issued a $22.00 target price on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. B. Riley restated a “buy” rating on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a research report on Thursday, September 4th. Citigroup began coverage on WAVE Life Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. They set a “buy” rating and a $16.00 price objective for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group began coverage on WAVE Life Sciences in a research note on Monday, August 4th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $19.00 target price on the stock. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, WAVE Life Sciences presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $19.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at WAVE Life Sciences

In related news, CEO Paul Bolno sold 217,351 shares of WAVE Life Sciences stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total transaction of $2,195,245.10. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 121,000 shares in the company, valued at $1,222,100. The trade was a 64.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregory L. Verdine sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total transaction of $100,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 285,217 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,852,170. The trade was a 3.39% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 23.98% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of WAVE Life Sciences

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WVE. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its stake 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 worth $97,607,000 after acquiring an additional 2,500,000 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in WAVE Life Sciences by 20.6% in the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 645,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,196,000 after purchasing an additional 110,295 shares during the period. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd boosted its stake in WAVE Life Sciences by 57.8% during the 2nd quarter. Qube Research & Technologies Ltd now owns 591,384 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,844,000 after purchasing an additional 216,520 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. boosted its stake in WAVE Life Sciences by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 557,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,506,000 after purchasing an additional 20,624 shares in the last quarter. Finally, The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company increased its position in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 163,699 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,064,000 after purchasing an additional 7,913 shares during the period. 89.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.