WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE) Director Ken Takanashi Sells 4,872 Shares

Key Points

• Ken Takanashi, a director at WAVE Life Sciences Ltd., sold 4,872 shares at an average price of $8.75, resulting in a total value of $42,630, while retaining 5,716,303 shares.
• WAVE Life Sciences stock has seen a 4.9% decline recently, trading at $8.13 following an earnings report that missed analyst expectations.
• Institutional investors hold 89.73% of WAVE Life Sciences stock, with prominent firms like Vanguard and Bank of America making significant increases in their stakes.

WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE - Get Free Report) Director Ken Takanashi sold 4,872 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.75, for a total value of $42,630.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 5,716,303 shares in the company, valued at approximately $50,017,651.25. The trade was a 0.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink.

WAVE Life Sciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:WVE traded down $0.19 on Monday, reaching $7.90. 161,170 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,297,508. WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $5.04 and a fifty-two week high of $16.74. The company's 50 day moving average is $7.46 and its 200-day moving average is $8.17. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.26 billion, a PE ratio of -8.78 and a beta of -0.95.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.29) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $8.70 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.52 million. As a group, analysts expect that WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. will post -1.14 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on WVE. Citigroup began coverage on WAVE Life Sciences in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $16.00 price target for the company. Canaccord Genuity Group began coverage on WAVE Life Sciences in a report on Monday, August 4th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $19.00 price target for the company. Raymond James Financial began coverage on WAVE Life Sciences in a report on Wednesday, June 11th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $14.00 price target for the company. Oppenheimer began coverage on WAVE Life Sciences in a report on Monday, July 28th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $24.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on WAVE Life Sciences from $24.00 to $21.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, WAVE Life Sciences has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $20.27.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WAVE Life Sciences

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. acquired a new position in WAVE Life Sciences during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in WAVE Life Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in WAVE Life Sciences by 31.5% in the 4th quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,642 shares of the company's stock valued at $119,000 after buying an additional 2,308 shares during the last quarter. Knott David M Jr acquired a new stake in WAVE Life Sciences in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $81,000. Finally, Ascent Group LLC acquired a new stake in WAVE Life Sciences in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $83,000. 89.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.