Swiss National Bank Buys 52,300 Shares of Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE)

Swiss National Bank boosted its stake in shares of Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE) by 33.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 208,800 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 52,300 shares during the quarter. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Wave Life Sciences were worth $2,583,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of WVE. Maverick Capital Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Wave Life Sciences by 31.0% during the 3rd quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 10,047,520 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,390,000 after purchasing an additional 2,378,159 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Wave Life Sciences by 2.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,321,248 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,034,000 after purchasing an additional 57,822 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Wave Life Sciences by 14.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,269,664 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,615,000 after buying an additional 283,419 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Wave Life Sciences by 174.5% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,540,190 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,630,000 after buying an additional 979,110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Wave Life Sciences by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 914,469 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,312,000 after acquiring an additional 69,852 shares during the period. 89.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Paul Bolno sold 169,025 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 338,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,238,019.07. This represents a 33.31 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Christian O. Henry sold 10,500 shares of Wave Life Sciences stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.77, for a total value of $102,585.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 16,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $157,443.55. The trade was a 39.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 29.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Wave Life Sciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, March 8th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Wave Life Sciences in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Wave Life Sciences in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $26.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $22.60.

Wave Life Sciences Stock Performance

Wave Life Sciences stock opened at $9.01 on Friday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $10.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.63. The firm has a market cap of $1.38 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.12 and a beta of -1.04. Wave Life Sciences Ltd. has a 52 week low of $4.25 and a 52 week high of $16.74.

Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.17) by $0.34. The firm 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%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Wave Life Sciences Ltd. will post -1.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Wave Life Sciences Profile

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.