WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) Stock Price Down 4.5% – Time to Sell?

WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE)’s stock price was down 4.5% during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $14.22 and last traded at $14.17. Approximately 1,422,050 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 74% from the average daily volume of 5,529,458 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.83.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on WVE shares. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of WAVE Life Sciences from $24.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on WAVE Life Sciences from $36.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 15th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded WAVE Life Sciences from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $9.00 to $27.00 in a report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, HC Wainwright lifted their price target on WAVE Life Sciences from $22.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 19th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, WAVE Life Sciences currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.67.

WAVE Life Sciences Stock Down 6.7%

The company has a market cap of $2.31 billion, a P/E ratio of -18.45 and a beta of -1.82. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $12.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $9.40.

WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The company reported ($0.32) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.30) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $7.61 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.85 million. WAVE Life Sciences had a negative net margin of 111.64% and a negative return on equity of 75.61%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. will post -1.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at WAVE Life Sciences

In other WAVE Life Sciences news, CFO Kyle Moran sold 50,036 shares of WAVE Life Sciences stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $20.03, for a total transaction of $1,002,221.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 89,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,787,036.54. The trade was a 35.93% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chris Francis sold 9,375 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.03, for a total transaction of $150,281.25. Following the sale, the insider owned 25,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $400,750. The trade was a 27.27% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 912,117 shares of company stock worth $13,464,044 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 23.98% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WAVE Life Sciences

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its holdings in WAVE Life Sciences by 1,156.3% during the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 9,925 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 9,135 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. boosted its stake in WAVE Life Sciences by 1,441.6% during the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 9,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,000 after acquiring an additional 9,284 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. grew its holdings in WAVE Life Sciences by 18.7% during the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 11,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,802 shares during the period. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its stake in WAVE Life Sciences by 44.8% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 11,658 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,000 after purchasing an additional 3,609 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Prudential Financial Inc. bought a new stake in WAVE Life Sciences in the second quarter valued at approximately $80,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.73% of the company’s stock.

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.