WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) Shares Gap Up After Insider Buying Activity

WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE) gapped up prior to trading on Tuesday after an insider bought additional shares in the company. The stock had previously closed at $16.11, but opened at $16.80. WAVE Life Sciences shares last traded at $16.78, with a volume of 2,309,403 shares trading hands.

Specifically, major shareholder Plc Gsk bought 1,470,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 11th. The shares were bought 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 owned 18,245,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $346,668,129. This trade represents a 8.76% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on WVE. Truist Financial boosted their price target on WAVE Life Sciences from $36.00 to $50.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of WAVE Life Sciences from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Wedbush boosted their price target on WAVE Life Sciences from $20.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Leerink Partners reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $21.00 price objective on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a research note on Monday, December 8th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.13.

WAVE Life Sciences Stock Down 0.4%

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $9.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $8.26. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.79 and a beta of -1.72.

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

Institutional Trading of WAVE Life Sciences

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WVE. Handelsbanken Fonder AB bought a new position in shares of WAVE Life Sciences in the 2nd quarter valued at $330,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in WAVE Life Sciences by 33.1% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,569,015 shares of the company’s stock worth $10,199,000 after acquiring an additional 390,078 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in WAVE Life Sciences by 97.2% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 78,880 shares of the company’s stock worth $637,000 after purchasing an additional 38,870 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio bought a new position in WAVE Life Sciences in the first quarter valued at about $406,000. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in WAVE Life Sciences by 29.7% in the second quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 621,378 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,039,000 after purchasing an additional 142,109 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.73% of the company’s stock.

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.