Wave Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) Shares Gap Down Following Weak Earnings

Wave Life Sciences Ltd. (NASDAQ:WVE) shares gapped down prior to trading on Tuesday after the company announced weaker than expected quarterly earnings. The stock had previously closed at $16.44, but opened at $14.97. Wave Life Sciences shares last traded at $15.73, with a volume of 100,749 shares traded.

The company reported ($0.47) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.28) by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of ($7.68) million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.45 million. Wave Life Sciences had a negative return on equity of 694.73% and a negative net margin of 66.50%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

WVE has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Wave Life Sciences from $11.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Truist Financial increased their target price on Wave Life Sciences from $17.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Raymond James upgraded Wave Life Sciences from an “outperform” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and lifted their price target for the company from $13.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. B. Riley increased their price objective on Wave Life Sciences from $19.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Wave Life Sciences from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating, eight have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Wave Life Sciences currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $21.89.

Insider Buying and Selling at Wave Life Sciences

In related news, major shareholder Plc Gsk purchased 2,791,930 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The shares were bought at an average price of $8.00 per share, with a total value of $22,335,440.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 16,775,691 shares in the company, valued at approximately $134,205,528. This trade represents a 0.00 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, major shareholder Plc Gsk purchased 2,791,930 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 27th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $8.00 per share, for a total transaction of $22,335,440.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the insider now directly owns 16,775,691 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $134,205,528. The trade was a 0.00 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Paul Bolno sold 48,366 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $5.78, for a total transaction of $279,555.48. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 359,059 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,075,361.02. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 400,822 shares of company stock worth $5,221,768 in the last 90 days. 29.10% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Wave Life Sciences

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Emerald Advisers LLC bought a new position in Wave Life Sciences during the 2nd quarter valued at $12,441,000. Emerald Mutual Fund Advisers Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Wave Life Sciences in the 2nd quarter valued at about $9,086,000. Artal Group S.A. lifted its position in shares of Wave Life Sciences by 34.7% during the first quarter. Artal Group S.A. now owns 4,051,400 shares of the company’s stock worth $24,997,000 after purchasing an additional 1,044,000 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Wave Life Sciences by 174.5% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 1,540,190 shares of the company’s stock worth $12,630,000 after purchasing an additional 979,110 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ikarian Capital LLC bought a new stake in Wave Life Sciences in the first quarter valued at about $3,641,000. 89.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wave Life Sciences Trading Down 1.3 %

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $10.40 and a 200 day simple moving average of $7.41.

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.