Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) Reaches New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $13.00 to $17.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has an overweight rating on the stock. Wave Life Sciences traded as high as $13.28 and last traded at $13.15, with a volume of 1950650 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $8.56.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on WVE. Raymond James raised Wave Life Sciences from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $13.00 to $22.00 in a report on Wednesday. B. Riley boosted their price target on shares of Wave Life Sciences from $11.00 to $19.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 3rd. Leerink Partners increased their price objective on shares of Wave Life Sciences from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Wave Life Sciences from $5.00 to $7.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 4th. Finally, Mizuho restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $19.00 target price on shares of Wave Life Sciences in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $18.56.

Insider Transactions at Wave Life Sciences

In related news, CEO Paul Bolno sold 48,366 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $5.78, for a total transaction of $279,555.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 359,059 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,075,361.02. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Wave Life Sciences news, CFO Kyle Moran sold 17,146 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.00, for a total transaction of $154,314.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 19,777 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $177,993. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Paul Bolno sold 48,366 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.78, for a total transaction of $279,555.48. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 359,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,075,361.02. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 29.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wave Life Sciences

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Mackenzie Financial Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Wave Life Sciences by 13.6% in the second quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 15,887 shares of the company’s stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 1,905 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its stake in Wave Life Sciences by 50.2% in the 1st quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 7,334 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after acquiring an additional 2,451 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in Wave Life Sciences by 3.4% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 125,834 shares of the company’s stock worth $628,000 after acquiring an additional 4,092 shares during the period. Swiss National Bank grew its stake in Wave Life Sciences by 2.7% during the 1st quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 156,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $966,000 after acquiring an additional 4,100 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capstone Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Wave Life Sciences by 9.0% in the 1st quarter. Capstone Investment Advisors LLC now owns 54,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $336,000 after purchasing an additional 4,500 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.73% of the company’s stock.

Wave Life Sciences Stock Down 1.9 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $1.79 billion, a PE ratio of -28.10 and a beta of -1.10. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $6.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $6.16.

Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) last released its earnings results on Thursday, August 8th. The company reported ($0.25) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.16) by ($0.09). Wave Life Sciences had a negative return on equity of 1,395.99% and a negative net margin of 66.50%. The company had revenue of $19.69 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $24.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.20) EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Wave Life Sciences Ltd. will post -1.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.