HC Wainwright Reiterates "Buy" Rating for WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE)

Key Points

• HC Wainwright has reiterated a "Buy" rating for WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) with a target price of $22.00, indicating a potential upside of 191.97% from its current price.
• WAVE Life Sciences recently reported a loss of ($0.31) per share for the last quarter, falling short of analysts' expectations, with anticipated earnings per share of -1.14 for the current year.
• A total of 14 analysts currently rate the stock as a "Buy," while one has given it a "Hold" rating, reflecting a strong analyst consensus on the stock's future performance.

WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating reiterated by investment analysts at HC Wainwright in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $22.00 target price on the stock. HC Wainwright's price objective indicates a potential upside of 191.97% from the company's current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on WVE. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on WAVE Life Sciences in a research note on Monday, July 28th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $24.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded WAVE Life Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Canaccord Genuity Group assumed coverage on WAVE Life Sciences in a research report on Monday, August 4th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $19.00 target price on the stock. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $18.00 target price on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on WAVE Life Sciences from $24.00 to $21.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $20.27.

WAVE Life Sciences Price Performance

WAVE Life Sciences stock traded down $2.09 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $7.54. The company had a trading volume of 6,540,298 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,368,531. The firm has a market cap of $1.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.38 and a beta of -1.15. WAVE Life Sciences has a 12-month low of $5.04 and a 12-month high of $16.74. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $8.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $7.95.

WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported ($0.31) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.29) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $8.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.52 million. As a group, research analysts expect that WAVE Life Sciences will post -1.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other WAVE Life Sciences news, Director Christian O. Henry sold 9,670 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.81, for a total transaction of $85,192.70. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 29,645 shares in the company, valued at $261,172.45. This trade represents a 24.60% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Gregory L. Verdine sold 10,000 shares of WAVE Life Sciences stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $10.00, for a total value of $100,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 285,217 shares in the company, valued at $2,852,170. This represents a 3.39% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 271,893 shares of company stock valued at $2,631,568. Corporate insiders own 23.98% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. lifted its position in WAVE Life Sciences by 30.1% during the 1st quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 12,516,500 shares of the company's stock worth $101,133,000 after acquiring an additional 2,894,396 shares during the period. Polar Capital Holdings Plc acquired a new position in shares of WAVE Life Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at about $12,370,000. MPM Bioimpact LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 138.5% in the 4th quarter. MPM Bioimpact LLC now owns 1,489,237 shares of the company's stock valued at $18,422,000 after buying an additional 864,766 shares during the period. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its holdings in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 35.3% in the 2nd quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 3,295,700 shares of the company's stock valued at $21,422,000 after buying an additional 859,160 shares during the period. Finally, Driehaus Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 6,712,449 shares of the company's stock valued at $83,033,000 after buying an additional 853,589 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 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.