WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) Coverage Initiated at Canaccord Genuity Group

Key Points

• Canaccord Genuity Group initiated coverage on WAVE Life Sciences with a "buy" rating and a price target of $19.00, indicating a potential upside of 120.16% from its current price.
• The company reported a Q2 loss of ($0.31) EPS, missing expectations, with revenues of $8.70 million against a consensus of $11.52 million.
• WAVE Life Sciences has received ratings from multiple analysts, with the overall consensus being a "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $20.27.

Stock analysts at Canaccord Genuity Group started coverage on shares of WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE - Get Free Report) in a note issued to investors on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The firm set a "buy" rating and a $19.00 price target on the stock. Canaccord Genuity Group's target price indicates a potential upside of 134.86% from the stock's previous close.

Several other analysts also recently issued reports on WVE. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, July 16th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $16.00 price target for the company. Raymond James Financial started coverage on WAVE Life Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $14.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer began coverage on WAVE Life Sciences in a research report on Monday, July 28th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $24.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of WAVE Life Sciences from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Friday, May 9th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $10.00 target price for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has issued a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $20.27.

WAVE Life Sciences Stock Down 0.5%

NASDAQ WVE traded down $0.04 on Monday, hitting $8.09. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,058,816 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,302,714. The firm has a market cap of $1.29 billion, a PE ratio of -8.99 and a beta of -0.95. The company's 50-day moving average is $7.42 and its 200 day moving average is $8.24. WAVE Life Sciences has a 1-year low of $5.04 and a 1-year high of $16.74.

WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE - Get Free Report) last issued 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 firm had revenue of $8.70 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.52 million. On average, equities analysts expect that WAVE Life Sciences will post -1.14 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other WAVE Life Sciences news, Director Ken Takanashi sold 4,872 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.75, for a total transaction of $42,630.00. Following the sale, the director owned 5,716,303 shares in the company, valued at $50,017,651.25. This represents a 0.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Gregory L. Verdine sold 30,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.95, for a total value of $208,500.00. Following the sale, the director owned 282,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,963,493.15. The trade was a 9.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 23.98% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey raised its holdings in WAVE Life Sciences by 24.3% during the 2nd quarter. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey now owns 25,789 shares of the company's stock valued at $168,000 after buying an additional 5,041 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 6.4% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,759,381 shares of the company's stock valued at $17,938,000 after acquiring an additional 166,982 shares during the period. Compass Rose Asset Management LP bought a new position in shares of WAVE Life Sciences during the second quarter valued at about $650,000. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 93.3% during the second quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 36,097 shares of the company's stock worth $235,000 after purchasing an additional 17,424 shares during the period. Finally, Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust grew its stake in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 0.3% in the second quarter. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust now owns 1,937,489 shares of the company's stock worth $12,594,000 after purchasing an additional 6,669 shares during the last quarter. 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.