WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) Trading Up 9.3% - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• WAVE Life Sciences shares rose 9.3% during mid-day trading, reaching a price of $8.04, with a trading volume that exceeded the average by 16%.
• Equity analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with 14 recommending a Buy rating and an average target price of $20.33.
• Insider selling has been noted, including CEO Paul Bolno reducing his stake by 64% after selling over 217,000 shares at an average price of $10.10.

WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE - Get Free Report)'s share price was up 9.3% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $8.04 and last traded at $8.04. Approximately 1,719,470 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 16% from the average daily volume of 1,481,436 shares. The stock had previously closed at $7.35.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. B. Riley reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a research note on Thursday, September 4th. Raymond James Financial initiated coverage on WAVE Life Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, June 11th. They set an "outperform" rating and a $14.00 price objective on the stock. HC Wainwright reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $22.00 price objective on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Wedbush reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $18.00 price objective on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a report on Wednesday. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $20.33.

WAVE Life Sciences Stock Up 11.4%

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $8.15 and a 200 day moving average of $7.38. The firm has a market cap of $1.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -9.10 and a beta of -1.37.

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 business had revenue of $8.70 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $11.52 million. Equities analysts expect that WAVE Life Sciences Ltd. will post -1.14 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WAVE Life Sciences

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. grew its position in WAVE Life Sciences by 20.0% during the second quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. now owns 15,016,500 shares of the company's stock worth $97,607,000 after buying an additional 2,500,000 shares in the last quarter. 683 Capital Management LLC grew its position in WAVE Life Sciences by 4.5% during the second quarter. 683 Capital Management LLC now owns 4,100,000 shares of the company's stock worth $26,650,000 after buying an additional 175,000 shares in the last quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P grew its position in WAVE Life Sciences by 35.3% during the second quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 3,295,700 shares of the company's stock worth $21,422,000 after buying an additional 859,160 shares in the last quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC grew its position in WAVE Life Sciences by 3.9% during the second quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 3,257,119 shares of the company's stock worth $21,171,000 after buying an additional 123,561 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in WAVE Life Sciences by 0.8% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,206,403 shares of the company's stock worth $25,908,000 after buying an additional 23,891 shares in 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.

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