HC Wainwright Reiterates Buy Rating for Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE)

Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by stock analysts at HC Wainwright in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $22.00 price objective on the stock. HC Wainwright’s price target suggests a potential upside of 144.17% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Wave Life Sciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Wave Life Sciences in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $26.00 target price on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.60.

Wave Life Sciences Price Performance

WVE stock opened at $9.01 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $10.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.38 billion, a PE ratio of -8.12 and a beta of -1.04. Wave Life Sciences has a fifty-two week low of $4.25 and a fifty-two week high of $16.74.

Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.17) by $0.34. The company had revenue of $83.75 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $25.60 million. Wave Life Sciences had a negative net margin of 66.50% and a negative return on equity of 280.57%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Wave Life Sciences will post -1.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wave Life Sciences

In other news, Director Christian O. Henry sold 10,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.77, for a total transaction of $102,585.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $157,443.55. This represents a 39.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Paul Bolno sold 169,025 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.57, for a total transaction of $1,617,569.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 338,351 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,238,019.07. The trade was a 33.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 29.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WVE. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new stake in Wave Life Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Wave Life Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $62,000. KBC Group NV bought a new stake in shares of Wave Life Sciences in the fourth quarter worth $67,000. Point72 DIFC Ltd acquired a new position in Wave Life Sciences during the third quarter worth $98,000. Finally, Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its position in Wave Life Sciences by 31.5% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,642 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 2,308 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 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.