Wells Fargo & Company Cuts WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) Price Target to $13.00

WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) had its price objective decreased by Wells Fargo & Company from $27.00 to $13.00 in a report issued on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. Wells Fargo & Company currently has an overweight rating on the stock.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on WVE. Wedbush lifted their price target on WAVE Life Sciences from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. UBS Group set a $32.00 target price on WAVE Life Sciences in a report on Tuesday, December 16th. B. Riley Financial lifted their target price on WAVE Life Sciences from $19.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Bank of America began coverage on WAVE Life Sciences in a report on Thursday, February 5th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $38.00 price target for the company. Finally, HC Wainwright reissued a “buy” rating and set a $30.00 price target on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a research report on Monday, March 2nd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, WAVE Life Sciences presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $31.38.

WAVE Life Sciences Price Performance

WVE opened at $6.36 on Friday. WAVE Life Sciences has a 12-month low of $5.02 and a 12-month high of $21.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.20 billion, a PE ratio of -5.21 and a beta of -1.77. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $12.93 and its 200 day moving average price is $11.25.

WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.30) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.28) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $17.25 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.68 million. WAVE Life Sciences had a negative return on equity of 85.69% and a negative net margin of 478.35%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that WAVE Life Sciences will post -1.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at WAVE Life Sciences

In other WAVE Life Sciences news, CFO Kyle Moran sold 3,588 shares of WAVE Life Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.45, for a total value of $48,258.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 134,385 shares in the company, valued at $1,807,478.25. The trade was a 2.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Chandra Vargeese sold 3,228 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.45, for a total value of $43,416.60. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 408,246 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,490,908.70. This trade represents a 0.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 61,748 shares of company stock worth $907,809 in the last quarter. 23.98% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of WAVE Life Sciences

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in WVE. CWM LLC boosted its position in WAVE Life Sciences by 6,729.0% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 2,117 shares of the company’s stock valued at $36,000 after purchasing an additional 2,086 shares during the period. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its position in WAVE Life Sciences by 645.2% in the fourth quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 2,243 shares of the company’s stock worth $38,000 after buying an additional 1,942 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. increased its position in WAVE Life Sciences by 1,156.3% in the third quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 9,925 shares of the company’s stock worth $72,000 after buying an additional 9,135 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. lifted its stake in WAVE Life Sciences by 1,441.6% in the third quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 9,928 shares of the company’s stock valued at $73,000 after buying an additional 9,284 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 18.7% during the second quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 11,444 shares of the company’s stock valued at $74,000 after acquiring an additional 1,802 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 89.73% of the company’s stock.

WAVE Life Sciences News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting WAVE Life Sciences this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company press release: management highlighted six‑month, placebo‑adjusted improvements in body composition (240 mg single dose produced ~14% visceral fat reduction, ~5% total fat reduction, +2% lean mass, ~3.3% waist circumference reduction) and continued safety/tolerability — data that supports the therapy’s mechanism and future development plans. Wave press release
• Positive Sentiment: Management commentary / transcripts emphasize the visceral‑fat and body‑composition signal and durability at six months, which supporters point to as a differentiated outcome versus pure body‑weight endpoints. Seeking Alpha transcript
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst positioning remains mixed but includes continued conviction from some firms: Bank of America kept a Buy rating (PT cut), Wells Fargo kept Overweight (PT cut), Truist upgraded to Strong‑Buy and Mizuho issued bullish commentary — these voices can limit downside and attract buyers after the sell‑off. Benzinga (analyst notes)
• Neutral Sentiment: Independent outlets and investor notes characterize the data as “clinically interesting” on body composition but still early‑stage and not yet persuasive on meaningful weight loss — meaning future development and larger trials will determine value. ProactiveInvestors report
• Negative Sentiment: Market reaction: shares plunged >50% after investors focused on the modest ~0.9% body‑weight reduction at six months and the higher‑dose readout that “failed to show a clear improvement” by some measures — the gap between body‑composition signals and headline weight loss disappointed traders. Reuters
• Negative Sentiment: Investor/legal risk: a law firm is publicizing an investigation into potential claims by shareholders, adding litigation overhang and downward pressure on sentiment. GlobeNewswire (Johnson Fistel)
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrades and target cuts followed the update; multiple outlets report steep target cuts and downgrades that reflect lower near‑term expectations and have likely amplified selling pressure. Seeking Alpha downgrade

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.