Polar Capital Holdings Plc Acquires New Holdings in Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE)

Polar Capital Holdings Plc acquired a new stake in Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,000,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $12,370,000. Polar Capital Holdings Plc owned 0.66% of Wave Life Sciences at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of WVE. Kraematon Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Wave Life Sciences by 24.3% in the fourth quarter. Kraematon Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 19,885 shares of the company's stock valued at $246,000 after acquiring an additional 3,885 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Wave Life Sciences by 46.1% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 53,419 shares of the company's stock valued at $661,000 after acquiring an additional 16,856 shares during the period. KBC Group NV acquired a new stake in shares of Wave Life Sciences in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Wave Life Sciences by 31.5% in the fourth quarter. Moody Aldrich Partners LLC now owns 398,475 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,929,000 after acquiring an additional 95,413 shares during the period. Finally, China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Wave Life Sciences by 126.2% in the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 54,267 shares of the company's stock valued at $671,000 after acquiring an additional 30,276 shares during the period. 89.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $22.00 price target on shares of Wave Life Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, March 26th. Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on Wave Life Sciences in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. They set a "buy" rating and a $26.00 price target for the company. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Wave Life Sciences in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. They set an "overweight" rating and a $10.00 price target for the company. Wedbush assumed coverage on Wave Life Sciences in a research note on Tuesday, April 8th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $18.00 price target for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut Wave Life Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Friday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Wave Life Sciences has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $21.17.

Insider Transactions at Wave Life Sciences

In related news, CEO Paul Bolno sold 169,025 shares of Wave Life Sciences stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 338,351 shares in the company, valued at $3,238,019.07. This trade represents a 33.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Christian O. Henry sold 10,500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.77, for a total value of $102,585.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 16,115 shares of the company's stock, valued at $157,443.55. The trade was a 39.45% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 29.10% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wave Life Sciences Stock Down 4.4%

Shares of WVE traded down $0.29 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $6.26. 289,856 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,279,895. The company has a market cap of $964.11 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.64 and a beta of -0.92. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $7.26 and a 200-day simple moving average of $10.77. Wave Life Sciences Ltd. has a 12-month low of $4.25 and a 12-month high of $16.74.

Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.29) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.27) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $9.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.65 million. Wave Life Sciences had a negative net margin of 66.50% and a negative return on equity of 280.57%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.24) EPS. Research analysts expect that Wave Life Sciences Ltd. will post -1.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.