WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE) Given Consensus Rating of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the fifteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and fourteen have given a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1 year price target among brokerages that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $32.5625.

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. UBS Group set a $32.00 target price on WAVE Life Sciences in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Oppenheimer lifted their price objective on shares of WAVE Life Sciences from $24.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on shares of WAVE Life Sciences from $29.00 to $27.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America began coverage on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a report on Thursday, February 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company.

WAVE Life Sciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WVE opened at $12.68 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -16.91 and a beta of -1.78. WAVE Life Sciences has a one year low of $5.28 and a one year high of $21.73. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $15.20 and a 200 day simple moving average of $10.46.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Chris Francis sold 441,031 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.57, for a total transaction of $6,425,821.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $364,250. This represents a 94.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Kyle Moran sold 210,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $14.77, for a total value of $3,101,700.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 89,218 shares in the company, valued at $1,317,749.86. The trade was a 70.18% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 915,181 shares of company stock valued at $13,612,581 over the last 90 days. 23.98% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WAVE Life Sciences

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WVE. Voya Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 736.5% during the third quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 258,011 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,889,000 after purchasing an additional 227,167 shares during the period. Handelsbanken Fonder AB acquired a new stake in WAVE Life Sciences in the second quarter worth about $330,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its position in WAVE Life Sciences by 33.1% in the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,569,015 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,199,000 after buying an additional 390,078 shares in the last quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in WAVE Life Sciences by 678,144.7% during the 3rd quarter. Federated Hermes Inc. now owns 3,750,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,455,000 after buying an additional 3,750,140 shares during the period. Finally, Schroder Investment Management Group raised its position in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 29.7% during the 2nd quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 621,378 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,039,000 after buying an additional 142,109 shares in the last quarter. 89.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.