Artisan Partners Limited Partnership Trims Holdings in Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE)

Artisan Partners Limited Partnership lowered its position in Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE) by 2.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,906,790 shares of the company’s stock after selling 53,680 shares during the period. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership owned approximately 1.25% of Wave Life Sciences worth $23,587,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Wave Life Sciences by 16.6% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 14,546 shares of the company’s stock valued at $180,000 after acquiring an additional 2,073 shares during the last quarter. Kraematon Investment Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 3,885 shares during the last quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. grew its position in Wave Life Sciences by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Corebridge Financial Inc. now owns 45,824 shares of the company’s stock worth $567,000 after purchasing an additional 4,423 shares during the period. KBC Group NV purchased a new position in shares of Wave Life Sciences during the 4th quarter valued at about $67,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund lifted its holdings in shares of Wave Life Sciences by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 109,084 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,349,000 after buying an additional 6,900 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 89.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on WVE shares. StockNews.com upgraded Wave Life Sciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $22.00 target price on shares of Wave Life Sciences in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group assumed coverage on shares of Wave Life Sciences in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $26.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.60.

Wave Life Sciences Stock Performance

NASDAQ:WVE opened at $8.62 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.32 billion, a PE ratio of -7.77 and a beta of -1.04. Wave Life Sciences Ltd. has a fifty-two week low of $4.25 and a fifty-two week high of $16.74. The company has a fifty day moving average of $10.73 and a two-hundred day moving average of $11.64.

Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $0.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.17) by $0.34. Wave Life Sciences had a negative net margin of 66.50% and a negative return on equity of 280.57%. The firm had revenue of $83.75 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $25.60 million. Research analysts forecast that Wave Life Sciences Ltd. will post -1.14 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other Wave Life Sciences news, CEO Paul Bolno sold 169,025 shares of the firm’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 value of $1,617,569.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 338,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,238,019.07. This trade represents a 33.31 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Christian O. Henry sold 10,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $157,443.55. This represents a 39.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 29.10% of the company’s stock.

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.