WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) Coverage Initiated at Bank of America

Investment analysts at Bank of America began coverage on shares of WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) in a note issued to investors on Thursday, MarketBeat reports. The firm set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target on the stock. Bank of America‘s target price indicates a potential upside of 182.53% from the company’s current price.

WVE has been the topic of several other research reports. Truist Financial lifted their price target on WAVE Life Sciences from $36.00 to $50.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, December 15th. Oppenheimer lifted their target price on shares of WAVE Life Sciences from $24.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. UBS Group set a $32.00 target price on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of WAVE Life Sciences from $20.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upgraded WAVE Life Sciences from a “sector perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $9.00 to $27.00 in a report on Monday, December 8th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $32.69.

WAVE Life Sciences Price Performance

Shares of WAVE Life Sciences stock opened at $13.45 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $14.61 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.25. The stock has a market cap of $2.25 billion, a P/E ratio of -17.93 and a beta of -1.78. WAVE Life Sciences has a 1-year low of $5.28 and a 1-year high of $21.73.

WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 10th. The company reported ($0.32) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.30) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $7.61 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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, research analysts expect that WAVE Life Sciences will post -1.14 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Chris Francis sold 9,375 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.03, for a total value of $150,281.25. Following the sale, the insider owned 25,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $400,750. The trade was a 27.27% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, major shareholder Plc Gsk purchased 1,470,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $19.00 per share, for a total transaction of $27,930,000.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider directly owned 18,245,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $346,668,129. This trade represents a 8.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 912,117 shares of company stock valued at $13,464,044. Insiders own 23.98% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WAVE Life Sciences

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CWM LLC raised its holdings in WAVE Life Sciences by 6,729.0% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,117 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 2,086 shares in the last quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 1,156.3% in the 3rd quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 9,925 shares of the company’s stock valued at $72,000 after purchasing an additional 9,135 shares during the last quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 1,441.6% in the 3rd quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 9,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after purchasing an additional 9,284 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 18.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 11,444 shares of the company’s stock worth $74,000 after purchasing an additional 1,802 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 44.8% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 11,658 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 3,609 shares during the last quarter. 89.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About WAVE Life Sciences

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.