WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) Coverage Initiated at Wells Fargo & Company

Key Points

• Wells Fargo & Company has initiated coverage on WAVE Life Sciences, giving it an "overweight" rating and a price target of $18.00, indicating a potential upside of 130.47% from its previous close.
• Despite the positive ratings from several analysts, including Wedbush and Oppenheimer, Weiss Ratings issued a "sell" rating, highlighting mixed sentiment among market analysts.
• WAVE Life Sciences reported a quarterly loss with an EPS of ($0.31), missing analyst estimates and generating $8.70 million in revenue, which was below expectations.

Equities researchers at Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE - Get Free Report) in a report issued on Monday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The firm set an "overweight" rating and a $18.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 130.47% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on WVE. Wedbush reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Canaccord Genuity Group began coverage on WAVE Life Sciences in a research note on Monday, August 4th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $19.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup started coverage on WAVE Life Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $16.00 price objective for the company. Oppenheimer began coverage on WAVE Life Sciences in a research note on Monday, July 28th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $24.00 price target for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, WAVE Life Sciences has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $20.57.

WAVE Life Sciences Stock Performance

Shares of WVE opened at $7.81 on Monday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $8.07 and a 200 day moving average price of $7.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -8.68 and a beta of -1.37. WAVE Life Sciences has a one year low of $5.28 and a one year high of $16.74.

WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The company reported ($0.31) EPS 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 analysts' expectations of $11.52 million. On average, analysts predict that WAVE Life Sciences will post -1.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at WAVE Life Sciences

In other WAVE Life Sciences news, CEO Paul Bolno sold 217,351 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.10, for a total transaction of $2,195,245.10. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 121,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,222,100. This represents a 64.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Christian O. Henry sold 9,670 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.81, for a total transaction of $85,192.70. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 29,645 shares in the company, valued at $261,172.45. This represents a 24.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 241,893 shares of company stock worth $2,423,068. Corporate insiders own 23.98% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of WAVE Life Sciences

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 18.7% during the 2nd quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. now owns 11,444 shares of the company's stock worth $74,000 after acquiring an additional 1,802 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in WAVE Life Sciences by 44.8% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 11,658 shares of the company's stock worth $76,000 after purchasing an additional 3,609 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of WAVE Life Sciences in the second quarter valued at $80,000. Knott David M Jr purchased a new position in shares of WAVE Life Sciences during the first quarter valued at approximately $81,000. Finally, Ascent Group LLC purchased a new position in WAVE Life Sciences during the first quarter worth about $83,000. 89.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.

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