D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Increases Stock Position in Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE - Free Report) by 71.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 716,253 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 297,792 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned approximately 0.47% of Wave Life Sciences worth $8,860,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in Wave Life Sciences in the fourth quarter worth approximately $62,000. KBC Group NV acquired a new position in Wave Life Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $67,000. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Wave Life Sciences by 31.5% in the fourth quarter. Summit Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,642 shares of the company's stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 2,308 shares in the last quarter. Westwood Wealth Management acquired a new position in Wave Life Sciences in the fourth quarter worth approximately $124,000. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Wave Life Sciences in the 4th quarter valued at $129,000. 89.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Wave Life Sciences Price Performance

Shares of Wave Life Sciences stock traded down $0.17 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $6.30. 145,731 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,279,025. Wave Life Sciences Ltd. has a 1-year low of $4.25 and a 1-year high of $16.74. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $7.33 and a 200-day moving average price of $10.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $970.27 million, a PE ratio of -5.67 and a beta of -0.92.

Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 8th. The company reported ($0.29) earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $9.18 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.65 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.24) EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Wave Life Sciences Ltd. will post -1.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Wave Life Sciences in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $10.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Wave Life Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Wedbush assumed coverage on shares of Wave Life Sciences in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $18.00 price objective for the company. Jefferies Financial Group initiated coverage on Wave Life Sciences in a report on Tuesday, February 25th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $26.00 price target for the company. Finally, HC Wainwright restated a "buy" rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Wave Life Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Wave Life Sciences presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $21.17.

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.