WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE) Receives Average Recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus: Fourteen of 16 analysts rate WAVE Life Sciences a buy, with an average 12-month price target of $22.31, although several firms recently cut their targets.
• Shares have declined sharply: WVE opened at $4.70, near its 52-week low of $4.64 and well below its 52-week high of $21.73. The company also missed quarterly expectations, reporting a $0.34 per-share loss and $2.27 million in revenue.
• Ownership is heavily institutional: Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.73% of the stock, while insiders sold 23,564 shares worth approximately $132,476 over the past three months.

Shares of WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE - Get Free Report) have received a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" from the sixteen analysts that are covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average 1-year target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $22.3125.

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered WAVE Life Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Saturday, August 1st. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a report on Friday, July 17th. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of WAVE Life Sciences from $24.00 to $19.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, July 31st. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Wedbush decreased their price target on shares of WAVE Life Sciences from $15.00 to $12.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 31st.

Insider Transactions at WAVE Life Sciences

In other news, Director Heidi L. Wagner sold 7,000 shares of WAVE Life Sciences stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.01, for a total value of $42,070.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 44,930 shares of the company's stock, valued at $270,029.30. The trade was a 13.48% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Adrian Rawcliffe sold 12,700 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.29, for a total value of $67,183.00. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 23,564 shares of company stock valued at $132,476. 24.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its position in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 9.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 57,349 shares of the company's stock worth $463,000 after acquiring an additional 4,957 shares in the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 557,644 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,506,000 after acquiring an additional 20,624 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers boosted its position in WAVE Life Sciences by 22.5% during the 2nd quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 162,599 shares of the company's stock worth $1,057,000 after purchasing an additional 29,899 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in WAVE Life Sciences during the 2nd quarter worth $80,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in WAVE Life Sciences in the 2nd quarter valued at $650,000. 89.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

WAVE Life Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of WVE opened at $4.70 on Friday. WAVE Life Sciences has a fifty-two week low of $4.64 and a fifty-two week high of $21.73. The company has a market capitalization of $926.13 million, a PE ratio of -4.31 and a beta of -1.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $5.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $7.57.

WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 30th. The company reported ($0.34) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.30) by ($0.04). The business had revenue of $2.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.45 million. WAVE Life Sciences had a negative return on equity of 50.36% and a negative net margin of 309.73%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that WAVE Life Sciences will post -1.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.

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