WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) Shares Down 7.1% – What’s Next?

WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE)’s share price dropped 7.1% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $15.75 and last traded at $15.7950. Approximately 1,133,934 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 92% from the average daily volume of 13,613,914 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.00.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on WVE shares. Oppenheimer raised their target price on shares of WAVE Life Sciences from $24.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on shares of WAVE Life Sciences from $19.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, December 8th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of WAVE Life Sciences from $16.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on WAVE Life Sciences from $16.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 9th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $28.00 target price on WAVE Life Sciences in a report 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, WAVE Life Sciences has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $31.67.

WAVE Life Sciences Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $2.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -21.27 and a beta of -1.82. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $11.48 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $9.12.

WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) last released its 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 firm had revenue of $7.61 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.85 million. WAVE Life Sciences had a negative return on equity of 75.61% and a negative net margin of 111.64%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. will post -1.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WAVE Life Sciences news, Director Gregory L. Verdine sold 20,000 shares of WAVE Life Sciences stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.47, for a total value of $269,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 275,217 shares in the company, valued at $3,707,172.99. The trade was a 6.77% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Kyle Moran sold 50,036 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 89,218 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,787,036.54. This represents a 35.93% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 902,742 shares of company stock valued at $13,313,763. 23.98% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WAVE Life Sciences

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC increased its position in WAVE Life Sciences by 10.2% during the second quarter. Virtus Investment Advisers LLC now owns 13,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $85,000 after purchasing an additional 1,210 shares during the last quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. grew its stake 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 valued at $74,000 after buying an additional 1,802 shares during the period. Velan Capital Investment Management LP increased its holdings in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 15.4% during the 2nd quarter. Velan Capital Investment Management LP now owns 15,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $98,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Matisse Capital increased its holdings in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. Matisse Capital now owns 13,193 shares of the company’s stock worth $97,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Teacher Retirement System of Texas raised its position in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 8.2% in the 2nd quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 28,955 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,000 after buying an additional 2,206 shares during the period. 89.73% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.