Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) Shares Gap Down – What’s Next?

Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE)’s stock price gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday . The stock had previously closed at $8.08, but opened at $7.91. Wave Life Sciences shares last traded at $8.05, with a volume of 560,359 shares changing hands.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on WVE. Jefferies Financial Group began coverage on Wave Life Sciences in a research note on Tuesday, February 25th. They set a “buy” rating and a $26.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com raised shares of Wave Life Sciences from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, March 8th. Finally, HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $22.00 price objective on shares of Wave Life Sciences in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.60.

Wave Life Sciences Price Performance

The stock has a fifty day moving average of $10.68 and a 200 day moving average of $11.74. The stock has a market cap of $1.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -6.98 and a beta of -1.04.

Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, March 4th. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.17) by $0.34. The business had revenue of $83.75 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $25.60 million. Wave Life Sciences had a negative net margin of 66.50% and a negative return on equity of 280.57%. As a group, equities analysts expect that Wave Life Sciences Ltd. will post -1.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Christian O. Henry sold 10,500 shares of Wave Life Sciences stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $9.77, for a total transaction of $102,585.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 16,115 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $157,443.55. The trade was a 39.45 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Paul Bolno sold 169,025 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 338,351 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,238,019.07. This represents 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 owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Wave Life Sciences

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WVE. Driehaus Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Wave Life Sciences by 14.6% in the 4th quarter. Driehaus Capital Management LLC now owns 6,712,449 shares of the company’s stock worth $83,033,000 after acquiring an additional 853,589 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in shares of Wave Life Sciences by 63.1% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 5,098,866 shares of the company’s stock valued at $63,074,000 after purchasing an additional 1,972,262 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Wave Life Sciences by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,182,512 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,368,000 after purchasing an additional 294,956 shares during the last quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC lifted its stake in Wave Life Sciences by 9.7% in the 4th quarter. Emerald Advisers LLC now owns 3,162,369 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,119,000 after buying an additional 280,859 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Wave Life Sciences by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,470,751 shares of the company’s stock worth $30,571,000 after buying an additional 201,087 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 89.73% of the company’s stock.

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.