WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) Cut to “Strong Sell” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen cut shares of WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) from a sell rating to a strong sell rating in a research report released on Sunday.

A number of other research firms have also recently commented on WVE. UBS Group set a $32.00 price target on WAVE Life Sciences in a research note on Tuesday, December 16th. Truist Financial upgraded WAVE Life Sciences to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 25th. Wedbush increased their price target on WAVE Life Sciences from $33.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, March 6th. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on WAVE Life Sciences from $43.00 to $52.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 10th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of WAVE Life Sciences in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.63.

WAVE Life Sciences Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ WVE opened at $7.39 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.39 billion, a P/E ratio of -6.06 and a beta of -1.32. WAVE Life Sciences has a 1-year low of $5.02 and a 1-year high of $21.73. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $11.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $11.27.

WAVE Life Sciences (NASDAQ:WVE) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 26th. The company reported ($0.30) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.28) by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $17.25 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.68 million. WAVE Life Sciences had a negative return on equity of 85.69% and a negative net margin of 478.35%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that WAVE Life Sciences will post -1.14 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at WAVE Life Sciences

In other news, CFO Kyle Moran sold 3,588 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $13.45, for a total value of $48,258.60. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 134,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,807,478.25. This represents a 2.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Chandra Vargeese sold 3,228 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $13.45, for a total value of $43,416.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 408,246 shares in the company, valued at $5,490,908.70. This represents a 0.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 52,373 shares of company stock valued at $757,527 over the last three months. Company insiders own 23.98% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WVE. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 9.5% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 57,349 shares of the company’s stock valued at $463,000 after purchasing an additional 4,957 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 3.8% in the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 557,644 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,506,000 after purchasing an additional 20,624 shares during the period. Rhumbline Advisers increased its holdings in shares of WAVE Life Sciences by 22.5% in the second quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 162,599 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,057,000 after purchasing an additional 29,899 shares during the period. Prudential Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of WAVE Life Sciences in the second quarter valued at about $80,000. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of WAVE Life Sciences in the second quarter valued at about $650,000. 89.73% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About WAVE Life Sciences

WAVE Life Sciences is a clinical-stage genetic medicines company focused on the discovery and development of stereopure oligonucleotide therapies designed to address serious diseases with high unmet medical need. Leveraging proprietary chemistry and precision synthesis, WAVE engineers drug candidates with defined stereochemistry to optimize potency, safety and manufacturability. This approach aims to enhance target specificity and improve therapeutic profiles compared with traditional oligonucleotide medicines.

The company’s pipeline includes programs in neuromuscular disorders such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy and neurodegenerative conditions including Huntington’s disease, as well as early-stage cardiovascular and liver indications.