Wedbush Initiates Coverage on Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE)

Research analysts at Wedbush initiated coverage on shares of Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) in a research note issued on Tuesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm set an “outperform” rating and a $18.00 price target on the stock. Wedbush’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 193.16% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on WVE. StockNews.com upgraded 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 report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group started coverage on Wave Life Sciences in a research report on Tuesday, February 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $26.00 target price on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wave Life Sciences presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $22.18.

Wave Life Sciences Price Performance

WVE stock opened at $6.14 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $9.69 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $942.40 million, a P/E ratio of -5.53 and a beta of -0.93. Wave Life Sciences has a 1 year low of $4.25 and a 1 year 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 for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.17) by $0.34. Wave Life Sciences had a negative net margin of 66.50% and a negative return on equity of 280.57%. The firm had revenue of $83.75 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.60 million. On average, analysts expect that Wave Life Sciences will post -1.14 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Wave Life Sciences

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wave Life Sciences

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Driehaus Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Wave Life Sciences by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 6,712,449 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,033,000 after acquiring an additional 853,589 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in Wave Life Sciences by 63.1% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,098,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,074,000 after purchasing an additional 1,972,262 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Wave Life Sciences by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,182,512 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,368,000 after purchasing an additional 294,956 shares in the last quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC increased its position in Wave Life Sciences by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 3,162,369 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,119,000 after purchasing an additional 280,859 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Wave Life Sciences by 8.9% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,470,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,571,000 after buying an additional 201,087 shares in the last quarter. 89.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wave Life Sciences Company 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.