StockNews.com Downgrades Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) to Sell

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research report released on Friday morning.

Several other brokerages also recently issued reports on WVE. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Wave Life Sciences in a report on Wednesday, March 26th. Wedbush started coverage on Wave Life Sciences in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $18.00 price objective on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Wave Life Sciences in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $10.00 target price for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Wave Life Sciences in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $26.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wave Life Sciences presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.17.

Wave Life Sciences Price Performance

Shares of WVE opened at $6.59 on Friday. Wave Life Sciences has a one year low of $4.25 and a one year high of $16.74. The company has a market cap of $1.02 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.94 and a beta of -0.92. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $7.78 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $11.13.

Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.29) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.27) by ($0.02). 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 $9.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.65 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.24) earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Wave Life Sciences will post -1.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Paul Bolno sold 169,025 shares of Wave Life Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.57, for a total value of $1,617,569.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 338,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,238,019.07. The trade was a 33.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Christian O. Henry sold 10,500 shares of Wave Life Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.77, for a total value of $102,585.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,115 shares in the company, valued at approximately $157,443.55. This represents a 39.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 29.10% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Wave Life Sciences

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WVE. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings 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 worth $63,074,000 after purchasing an additional 1,972,262 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P bought a new stake in Wave Life Sciences in the fourth quarter worth approximately $20,545,000. Polar Capital Holdings Plc bought a new stake in Wave Life Sciences in the fourth quarter worth approximately $12,370,000. MPM Bioimpact LLC increased its holdings in Wave Life Sciences by 138.5% in the fourth quarter. MPM Bioimpact LLC now owns 1,489,237 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,422,000 after purchasing an additional 864,766 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Wave Life Sciences by 14.6% in the fourth quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 6,712,449 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,033,000 after purchasing an additional 853,589 shares in the last quarter. 89.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.